Midnight Cook
by Batekatt
Summary: RaAk. Ranma gets suspicious when he discovers Akane's late nights in the kitchen in the week following their disastrous wedding... Who is the mysterious cook who made those mouthwatering cookies? Might contain lemonsexual hints later on and rough languag
1. The First Night

**I don't own any of the characthers, they are all borne from Rumiko Takahashi's mind and heart. I'm just borrowing them, and they're probably out-of-character in things they'll do in this fanfic. But, since it's my plot, it's the way I want to write it.**

**I'm a fan of Akane + Ranma pairing, so if you're not into them getting together I suggest you drop reading any further. For those of you who also like the idea of those two being together, do continue. There might be some lemon/sexually scented scenes and a bit rough language later on, but so far I haven't planned any straight out sexual scenes.**

**" " talking**

**# # thinking**

**Any questions or comments, just write a review and I'll do my best to reply.**

**Enjoy!**

**Midnight Cook**

**The First Night**

Ranma Saotome was trying to go back to sleep, counting the snores coming from his father, Genma Saotome, who laid cuddled up in his cursed form on the sleeping-mat next to Ranma's. He wasn't having much luck with it though, although it had nothing to do with neither his father's snoring nor him not being tired enough. The problem was that his fiancée Akane Tendo – well, one of three fiancées he had at the moment – had left her room over one hour ago, and hadn't returned yet. If you asked him, he would vehemently reject the idea that he was worried about her, or that he cared in any way at all, but still he couldn't relax until he heard her pass outside on her way back to her own room. Normally he would sleep like a log all night long, but after a couple of years of hoards of people kidnapping and attacking this particular fiancée, and to top it off with her almost dying in a battle against a semi-god a couple of weeks ago followed by their wrecked wedding, he was now extremely sensitive to her moods and his own need to know her whereabouts at all times. Again not that he would admit to caring at all, it was all just so he would know sooner when he would be needed to rescue her again.

Anyway, after the wedding their parent's had tried to pull off after their 'eventful' trip to China, Ranma had noticed that Akane had started going to bed earlier than normal every night, just to get up after everyone else had fallen asleep. Ranma didn't know what she did at night, he just knew that this was the sixth night she'd followed this new schedule of hers, and tonight was the longest she'd been out of her room. Finally giving up after snore number 613 from the big panda that was his father, he kicked off his crumpled blanket and grumpily headed out of the guest-room to check up on his tomboy-fiancée.

#If she's gotten herself kidnapped again, I'm gonna whip her ass when I have gotten her back – girl or not!# Almost convincing himself that he wasn't worried at all, he stealthily moved through the house, searching for any signs of the girl with short midnight black hair and large chocolate brown eyes. Suddenly he heard people talking, and froze as he tried to hear who it was and what was being said. As he crept towards the sound, he saw light seeping from the kitchen, and relaxed slightly as he realised that the voices came from a radio.

"…wants to send her love to her secret sweetheart in class 2D at Furinkan school here in Nerima, and she wishes to hear Sting with 'Desert Rose'…" The radio show started playing what obviously was 'Desert Rose', and before Ranma could peek into the kitchen he heard Akane's voice starting to hum along with the song. She was sitting at the kitchen table, tapping her naked foot in time with the beat from the radio, humming happily. Ranma's nose twitched slightly as he detected an enticing smell coming from the room, and as he crept up behind Akane he could see her munching on what looked like warm, mouth-watering cookies.

#Hmm… Nothing smells burned, nothing looks burned or wrecked, and she's eating it herself without any obvious side-effects… Equals not made by Akane, equals safe for me to eat also!# As soon as Ranma's train of thoughts came to an end, he dove in for the last five cookies. Akane squealed in shock, tumbling back from the table and falling off her chair to land on the floor, gawking wide-eyed at a happily munching Ranma now sitting on the kitchen bench.

"Ranma..! What are you doing here? And who told you that you could eat my cookies!" She laid half-sprawled on the floor in a pair of dark blue cotton pyjamas with stars and moon pattern on it, her half-eaten cookie in one hand.

"…I just couldn't sleep… needed to go to the bathroom… and on my way I saw light in here… and I felt a bit hungry… and these are great! …Kasumi made them this evening..? …mmm, they're still warm… Ranma spoke in between mouthfuls.

"Uh, yeah! Kasumi made them…" Akane sat slightly up on the floor, staring at Ranma. Ranma suddenly blushed at her piercing gaze, and slowed down his chewing to fully enjoy the last cookie. It was seldom that he could relax and take his time when eating, thanks to his previously mentioned father, who had ever since the first day of their 10 year long training trip made a weird form of training out of their meals/food-fights. But as the cookie filled with chocolate chips and nuts melted in his mouth he found himself incapable of just inhaling the last piece of heaven. He also realised that normally Akane would have hit him with her mallet for scaring her with his dive for the treats, and the fact that he didn't even ask first before he inhaled them, but shrugged it off as it being a result of her being up in the middle of the night so often lately. Besides, she had been much more patient with him in the past week. He patted his back mentally as he congratulated himself with all the times he'd kept back on his insults too. Licking his fingers to get all of the crumbs, he looked down at Akane from his perch on the bench.

"So… um… What are you doing up so late?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"I… I couldn't sleep… and as I was hungry I decided to go look for something to eat. And then I found the cookies that Kasumi had made…"

Ranma stared covertly at her as she made her way back to her feet, somehow feeling that she hid something from him. Shrugging it off, he jumped down to the floor and headed back out from the kitchen.

"Well, I'd better get back to sleep. You know, I think those cookies are the best Kasumi has made so far… Yum! Good night, Tomboy!" Ranma grinned, expecting Akane to send her mallet after him. When nothing happened he popped his head back into the kitchen to see a stunned and blushing Akane staring at him, quickly looking down to conceal her eyes as he looked questioningly at her.

"Good night, Ranma…" she said softly, turning to walk to the bench to switch off the radio, which was by now playing a song Ranma recognized as 'Streets of Philadelphia'. Shaking his head in confusion, he bounded back to his room – or the Tendo guest-room that had been his and his father's room for the last couple of years – and slid onto his sleeping-mat. Minutes later he recognized Akane's soft padding going towards her room, and seconds after that he was fast asleep.

**#8#8#8#8#**

The next morning Ranma remembered his feelings the previous night that Akane had been hiding something, as other things suddenly didn't add up. He had just asked the oldest of the Tendo sisters – Kasumi – if she couldn't make some more of those delicious cookies, and her reply was what made his brain turn a gear.

"Cookies? No, you must be mistaken, Ranma… I haven't made any cookies for several days now, and your father took the last ones." Her tone as mild as ever had a slightly confused note in it, and something made Ranma almost lie to her.

"Oh… Maybe I just dreamed it all… After all, it would be typical of me to dream of food. He, he…" Ranma sweat dropped as his voice got weaker. There were very few people who could lie outright to Kasumi, but she quickly accepted his alternative solution to the mysterious midnight-cookies. Ranma fled the kitchen as fast and as inconspicuously as he could, and decided to go outside for a walk. He sometimes felt like moving as he thought, and he also needed some privacy to concentrate. Some people would say that they didn't believe Ranma ever had a thought of his own, but some also used to believe that the moon was made of cheese, and that the earth was flat. Put in other words, Ranma did have his moments of deep thinking. He just seldom felt the need to put his energy into anything that had no direct connection with martial-arts.

#I know I didn't dream up those cookies last night… Never before has anything I've dreamed about tasted so good… But why would Akane lie about something like that..? Didn't she know who made them..? That's weird, considering they were still warm…# Ranma trotted along the top of one fence after another, his unfocused blue eyes looking without seeing anything but the 'scene of the crime'. Unconsciously he tugged on his long black pigtail. The shop-windows mirrored a young man walking the fences, in his black fighting pants and soft shoes, and a bright red Chinese style, long sleeved shirt. Then he froze in mid-step as a new thought entered his head.

#Maybe there was someone else there last night..? Someone that left before I entered the kitchen… Someone that made those cookies… for Akane..?# With a frown, he jumped down from the fence and jogged back to the Tendo dojo, making up his mind to get some answers if Akane continued her midnight routine.


	2. The Second Night

**The Second Night**

Ranma had almost dozed off when he heard Akane sneak her way through the house. It was later than the other nights, and judging from how she tried to make no sounds on her way she was obviously trying to avoid running into him again. Ranma instantly came awake, and quickly and silently glided out into the hallway in pursuit of her. Without any trouble, he made no sounds at all that could alarm her, and he soon took up a covered position outside the kitchen where he could see and hear her without being discovered himself. And so he made himself comfortable to wait for this mysterious midnight cook.

Akane was bustling silently in the kitchen, placing a bag with something on the table before she went over to the radio.

"If I don't turn it up too much… then nobody should wake from it…" she mumbled softly to herself. She turned on what seemed to be the same station as the previous night, as Ranma recognized the voice on the radio host. The muted tunes of a Beatles song started up, and Ranma blinked surprised as Akane emptied her bag for what looked like groceries. He got puzzled as she put on an apron and pulled out kitchen supplies from the cupboards.

#Huh? Where's the mystery person..? Is he or she in there already..? Weird that they haven't talked yet if that's the case…#

Akane started to hum along with the song again, and Ranma's attention focused back on her as she started to measure out the things she'd brought along in her bag.

"…yellow submarine, yellow submarine. We all live in a yellow submarine…" she sung, and Ranma looked on in surprise as she expertly mixed up her measured ingredients in one bowl and danced softly around the room with the bowl and a stirring-spoon in her hands, waving it as she playfully hopped around. She wore the same pyjamas as last night, and she acted like a little girl, bouncing around while laughing soundlessly.

#…cute…#

As the radio host talked his way into the next song, Akane skipped back over to the table, and delicately started to make small balls out of the batter in her bowl. Putting them out on the paper-covered plate she'd laid down, Ranma counted about 30 of the suspicious things she made. As he realised that she'd made them all by herself – without her normal anger and stubbornness even – and that she was about to eat them too, he readied himself to sprint in to save the day. Or night in this case. At least he could catch her if she fell, and call the doctor if she passed out. Tensing up, he just watched her as she placed the plate with the balls in the refrigerator. She then methodically cleaned up after herself, putting all her groceries back in the bag, and with practiced movements washed up everything she'd used of utensils. Michael Jackson's 'Black or White' played as Akane turned back to the kitchen table again with her now chilled snacks, and Ranma looked on in shock as she took one of the small balls and put it in her mouth, groaning with pleasure as she with extremely slow motions chewed it. Never before had he seen anybody use such a long time on eating one small ball of… whatever it was. Akane licked and sucked on her sticky fingers, and reached for a second ball.

#What..! No way should she make those sounds as if she'd never tasted anything better in her life, not when she's made it herself! But she really seems to enjoy them… There she goes for another one! Could it be that she actually managed to make something eatable? Gotta find out before she's taken them all!#

Ranma stood up from his hiding place and walked through the kitchen door, making Akane freeze with another ball half-way to her open mouth. Her eyes had gone wide and dark, and she just watched him as he approached the table and took one of the balls that laid on the plate there. Sniffing it, he guessed that they were some kind of chocolate balls, and with one last look over at Akane he popped it into his mouth. Experimentally he chewed onto it, but nothing prepared him for the sweetness that touched his tongue. Staring confused at Akane, he swallowed the treat, and looked from her to the chocolate balls and back. Taking another one, he tried again, with the same result.

"So… What do you think?" Akane's voice startled him slightly, and he just stared at her. Not quite knowing what she meant, or what he should say, he opened and shut his mouth several times.

"Uh…" was all he managed to say.

"You saw it all, didn't you..?" she asked in a timid voice. Ranma nodded, and followed her suit as she sat down at the table with the rest of the chocolate balls resting in between them.

"Did you really make these..?" he finally asked, taking another ball and studying it before he let it melt on his tongue. Akane also helped herself, and shrugged half-heartedly.

"Yeah…" She sighed.

"They're great! Wow, finally something you can make that doesn't make people sick!" Ranma was too blissful to notice her frown that appeared for a micro-second, but he did notice that she grabbed the plate with the chocolate balls on, stopping him from taking another one.

"Ranma… I need you to promise me something…"

"Hey! Give'em back!" He tried to dive in for them, but she managed to evade him and keep the delicacies out of reach.

"You can have the rest if you promise not to tell anyone what you've seen here tonight!"

That made him turn on all brakes, slumping back down onto his chair.

"What? But… Aren't you happy that you've made something so tasty? Why wouldn't you want everyone else to know that?" The chocolate balls momentarily forgotten, he studied her intently. She looked pleadingly at him, the sounds of some unfamiliar high-beat electronic song on the radio making the moment surreal.

"Ranma, I… You don't understand… I'll explain everything if you promise to keep it a secret until I say otherwise..! Please!"

Ranma quickly submitted to her pleading gaze, and holding up his hands he blushingly stopped her begging.

"Yeah, yeah… I promise… Although I don't get it." He grumbled. But he cheered up considerably as Akane pushed the chocolate balls back across the table, offering him another one which he happily nibbled on. The first nibbling he could ever remember.

"Thank you… I'm just not ready to let my family know about this yet. I'm not ready to let them see me. It's been so long since I've been me…"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at Akane.

"Akane, if you're trying for an explanation you're not doing too great." He said dryly.

"I know… But it's not easy… I'll have to start at the beginning, and it happened so many ears ago… You see, after mom died we were a broken family. Dad was crying over the simplest of things, Nabiki was putting up iced walls against the world, and sweet Kasumi was left with all the responsibilities that came with the house. I clearly remember being so confused about why everybody were so sad, and wondering about when I would get to see mom again. The day I learned what death meant was the first time Kasumi invited me into the kitchen with her. I had been in the park with some friends – I don't remember who – and we had found a wounded bird flopping around. We wanted to help it, but didn't know how to. Soon it laid oh so still... The older brother of one of the kids came over to check up on us, and when he discovered the bird he quite cruelly explained about death to us. I was in a daze when I got home, trying to get the death of the little bird to fit with what little I had been explained about mother's 'departure'. It all suddenly made sense. As Kasumi ushered me into the kitchen to help her with the supper, I just acted automatically, doing things the way I had done them when helping mom. Kasumi was stunned, it was the best dinner she had ever tasted. 'This sweet'n'sour sauce is even better than mother's', I remember her saying. That one sentence broke something in my mind, filling the emptiness with rage. No one, no one was better than mom, not in anything! I wrecked the whole dinner, storming up to my room to cry alone for hours…" Akane grew silent, staring with a frown down into the kitchen table. Ranma just looked at her, trying to follow her explanation to understand her better, but still feeling confused.

"You… made the best dinner Kasumi had tasted… when you were just a kid..?" The shock must have been clear in his voice, 'cause Akane lifted her head to meet his stare with eyes sparkling with humour.

"Yep..! I'm the best god damn cook you've ever met, Ranma Saotome..!" Akane declared copying his own trademark cockiness. Ranma wanted to laugh, but as he looked down on the crumbs left from the simple chocolate balls he'd seen her make, he hesitated.

"But… Why did you hide it for so long, if it's true what you're saying..? Why didn't you show Shampoo and Uk-chan..?" Ranma's brain crossed into new territory.

#Didn't she want to toss the other girls out of the fiancée competition? She poisoned me… us… with intention?# The thoughts shone clearly in his face, making Akane continue her complex explanation.

"By the time you and your father arrived I was so deep into my new role as the raging girl, and with the messed up introduction things got rather confused. I'm actually a really good actress too, as I've played this role ever since mom died. You're one of the few people who got to see the person behind the mask from time to time… Sometimes I wanted to drop the whole charade, but then you'd go and do something incredibly stupid again, and I'd smack the mask back in place. The anger itself did most of the job of destroying the food I cooked, and some things I consciously did to make things taste bad. In my defence, I seldom intended to poison or hurt anyone…" Akane held up her hands playfully, grinning broadly at Ranma. She relaxed more and more as she spoke, and he could see more than glimpses of the radiant girl he'd been shown peeks of before.

"So, your mood affects your cooking..?"

"Yeah, in my case it does. I don't know if you've noticed, but the last week I've been cooking at night, testing to see if I still have the gift. And I do. The radio has been helpful, as I've intentionally let the mood of the songs affect me. Sad songs made me sad, and I make sweet'n'sour things. Happy songs make me glad, and things turn out mouth-watering. You get the drift…"

Ranma again became aware of the radio humming silently in the background, the radio host droning softly on about greetings people sent in.

"So if you're angry, then a curry would turn out okay, except maybe a bit hot..?" he ventured.

"He, he, he… You're getting the idea now."

"Is that why you didn't challenge the girls for real, because you were mad or jealous of them?"

Akane raised an eyebrow at the word 'jealous', but surprisingly didn't shout back at him.

"No… I just didn't have the proper inspiration until recently… You know, in China… I actually did die for a moment… And in that moment, before I returned to the living, I had a long conversation with my mom…"

"What? But… Is that even possible?" Ranma almost shouted, but forced his voice into lower tones when Akane waved her hands warning him not to wake the others. He felt anger and despair surge through him at the memory of Akane's limp body in his arms, forcing back the tears that prickled his mind.

"Ranma, it's okay… Hush now… I'm okay… Yes, I believe I talked with my mom… It's weird thinking about how short a moment I was really gone, when we talked for so long… She helped me realise several things, and made me see more clearly than I've ever done before. That's mainly the reason why I now feel that I should do my best at what I'm good at, in honour of her memory, in stead of trying to keep her elevated above everyone else. She deserves to be amongst us in everything, not being put on a pedestal away from us…" Her eyes shone with a calm and contentment he hadn't seen before, and she proudly met his eyes without hesitation, letting him see past her defences and masks. Ranma almost pulled back, but fighting his own shyness he met her gaze, creating another one of those few, tender moments they'd experienced between them. He felt the blush flame over his face, getting even redder when Akane smiled wickedly at him. Smacking his head mentally, he tried to get his focus away from the pretty girl in front of him.

"Uh… Yeah… So… It's good that you've decided to honour your mother, but why not tell your family at least..?"

"No special reason, really… Just that I wanted to get used to if for myself first… And besides, can you imagine how our fathers would react once they find out that one of your strongest arguments against marrying me is gone..? They'd try for another disastrous wedding again, and a girl can only take so much humiliation before she breaks…" Akane laughed softly, winking at Ranma.

"Yeah, I guess so… I promised not to tell anyway…" Ranma muttered almost grumpily. Akane yawned slowly, and he started when he realised how late it was, and how long they'd been up.

"I'd better get back to bed, Ranma… I'm about to fall asleep sitting… But we can talk again later, if you want to… Sweet dreams!" She got up from the chair and picked up her grocery-bag. Ranma froze as she bent down and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, and it took him 10 minutes to get enough brain-power gathered to order his body to turn off the radio and the kitchen lights before he stumbled back to bed.


	3. The Third Night

**The Third Night**

The day had gone by in a haze, his thoughts lingering too much on the brief memory of Akane's lips pressed to his skin, and the dreams he'd had later on.

#I wonder if she'll cook again tonight… And if she'll kiss me again if I show up in the kitchen…#

He had gone to bed early this evening, not bothering to explain why as the whole family had commented on his obvious lack of sleep. Ukyo – a childhood friend he'd found out was really a girl instead of the boy he believed her to be, and being another of his fiancées – had stopped by in the afternoon, and she had started asking questions about why Ranma was so tired. He was even slower than normal in his fights with his father, ending up soaking wet and in his cursed female form, floating in the pond, several times in a row. Akane had saved him, giving an semi-explanation containing nightmares and wet panda-fathers snoring louder than usual, and Ukyo quickly accepted it in exchange for pouring her attention over her poor 'Ran-chan'. Ranma had breathed easily again as soon as Ukyo left, and was thankful that Shampoo – his third fiancée by Amazon law – hadn't popped up as well. She tended to be even more clingy than Ukyo, and Ranma got pretty claustrophobic in her 'tender' hugs.

He suddenly woke to the light sounds of bare feet tip-toeing through the house, and with a glance towards the clock in his room he found that it was time for the appearance of his midnight cook.

#Mine? Uh, I didn't just think that, did I? Granted, she did make yummy chocolate balls and cookies, but only the gods know how her other stuff turns out… Argh! I don't want to think about this! It makes my head hurt!#

His inner ramblings got interrupted as his senses told him that the footsteps had hesitated before they turned towards his room, now silencing in front of his door. The slight tapping on the door made him jump, and he scrambled out of his wrinkled blankets, slipping out of the room with a final glance back at his snoring father – who for once slept in his human form.

"Hey…" he greeted Akane silently, looking down at her bent head and shuffling feet. Tonight she'd pulled on a pair of old grey sweat-pants and a fire-truck red, thin strapped tank top in stead of her pyjamas, looking quite comfy.

"Sorry if I woke you… I just wondered… if you maybe wanted to join me in the kitchen..? We don't have to talk if you don't want to, but you could taste what I'm making..?" she whispered, glancing up at him with a small smile.

"Sure..! Who am I to say no to a midnight snack…" He grinned, offering to take the bag she held behind her. She hesitated for a moment, but quickly handed it over with a conspirator wink, silently taking the lead towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen he turned on the radio while Akane took out her groceries, and he sat down at the table to watch her work. He felt relaxed and comfortable, studying his fiancée as she moved around the kitchen while humming to an old Louis Armstrong song playing on the radio.

"So, what are you making tonight..?" Ranma asked curiously, trying to guess from inspecting the things she'd put out.

"Tonight… I'm going to try a whole meal… So I hope you're hungry...!"

Ranma looked at her with a smile, propping his head up in his hand.

"I always am… You're gonna tell me what you're making..? Or am I supposed to guess..?"

"He, he, Ranma… Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like it. I loved it when mom made it… Have you ever had Lasagne before..? I'm making it from scratch, with a salad."

"Nope, don't think I have… Akane, why do you bring everything in a bag..? Isn't it easier to just take the things that's in the kitchen..?"

Akane turned to him from her cooking, looking sceptical at him.

"And you don't think that Kasumi would notice..? That the place where she's spent most of her days, where she's cleaned and tidied and polished wouldn't look different to her if I were to take the things I needed night after night..? This is her kitchen, after all… I'm just being cautious, as I don't want them to know yet. It's kind of expensive, but it's worth it." She continued to prepare her ingredients, cutting and cooking and stirring and mixing. She sung along to The Corrs 'Irresistible', playacting that she sung the lyrics heartfelt to Ranma, and he blushed heavily at her theatrics. As she put the lasagne in the oven to cook, she waved Ranma to join her.

"Come on, Ranma, you can help me clean up this mess. I always clean up right away, so I can relax after eating. Besides, if someone comes along it's best to have hidden all the evidence... Something I didn't think about before you discovered my secret."

"Heh, don't you think that the smell will tip anyone off? You can't hide that." Ranma wrinkled his nose as he went next to Akane to help dry the dishes.

"I know. But it's a kitchen after all... And anyone who's up at these hours should be pretty woozy, so they'll accept a partially prepared explanation quickly - I hope."

Ranma silently did his part of the cleaning, listening to Akane humming along to the radio. He marvelled at how relaxed he felt around her, and realised that she was the one he'd always felt most relaxed with - and most nervous with at times too. They cleaned up everything, putting things back at its exact place so no one would discover anything, and chatted easily about small things, preparing the salad together just before the Lasagne was ready. When it was finally time to eat, Ranma thought he'd die of starvation if he wouldn't get to taste this 'Lasagne' that filled the kitchen with a mouth watering smell. Not hesitating one bit – which made Akane raise both of her eyebrows in a surprised motion – he plunged into his bigger part of the meal, wolfing down the first parts and then slowing down until the both of them ate slowly with enjoyment. He surprised himself even more when he realised that he liked to eat slowly, savouring the flavours.

"This is really good…! Akane, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"What do you really think of me…?" Ranma's eyes grew big when he realised what he'd just asked about, his eyes riveted to Akane's calm face.

"Well… I don't really know, to tell you the truth… Sometimes I've thought that I really liked you, and at other times I've been so frustrated with you that I almost gave up on you… But somehow I've always considered you a good friend." Akane talked quietly, eating with an elegance he'd never noticed before.

"So, you don't love me…?" What's wrong with me? Did she put something in the food? Why do I ask these stupid questions? Ranma's mind screamed. Akane looked him in the eyes for a long moment, startling him when she finally spoke.

"How can I love you, when I don't know you, and you certainly don't know me? I might have almost fallen for you at certain moments… But I can't say that I love you the way you're talking about." Ranma almost blurted out something that would have earned him pain, but the Lasagne in his mouth prevented him from talking until Akane continued. "All the people I like have won my affection through their personalities. I've never bothered with looks, those kind of things don't last long, and besides – when you meet someone nice they look better to you, and those who are morons will become disgusting no matter how pretty they are. Whether it's love for friends, family or lovers, the rule remains the same – I love them for the person they are, make sure to fall for their flaws, and the rest is pure bonus. You, Ranma Saotome, aren't even true to yourself most of the time, so how can I love you when I don't know what to love, and with your changing attitude I'm not even sure of what kind of love to give you… The sisterly kind? Or like a mother when you're acting childish? Like a friend? You certainly wouldn't have me love you like a lover…?"

They were both silent for quite a while after her little monologue. Akane had said what she wanted to, and Ranma needed time to process the words, letting his confused mind think properly. She had said things that sounded smart to him, which he already knew she were, and it gave him a whole knew perspective to think through. Without talking, they cleaned up the last bit of mess after themselves, and headed back to their bedrooms together. Before Ranma went into his room, he turned to Akane.

"I need to think some more… But it's been nice tonight, and I wouldn't mind testing more of your cooking if you're doing it again."

"Okay Ranma. I'll let you know. Good night." With a smile, Akane went back to her room, and Ranma glided into his own room without waking his father. Laying on top of his blankets, he tried to apply her philosophy into his own little world. He thought of all the people he knew, and suddenly found new sides to every one of them – and not all good sides either. Thinking about himself, he decided to try to be honest with himself from then on out. After all, what was the point of deceiving oneself? It wasn't as if he got anything out of it other than trouble. Happy with his noble intentions, he yawned tiredly. In the morning he'd have a serious talk with himself about his attitude.


	4. The Fourth Night

WOW! D I didn't think I'd get such a response. Actually, I thought that if I were to get any reviews at all it would just be negative things... So thank you Lerris, borg rabbit, MoonAssassin, Dream Crazy, nefandus, tkdl, Jace3, and deathsite-zero...

Don't worry, there's a point to the story, and the plot and course of it is all laid out in my head. So it all depends on me getting it out of my head and into the computer. Meanwhile, here's another small chapter of **Midnight Cook**...

**The Fourth Night**

Ranma was waiting outside of Akane's bedroom door the next night. She hadn't heard him at all, and squeaked in surprise when she bumped into him.

"Ranma!" She whispered. "Don't scare me like that! You almost gave me a heart-attack!" She was frowning at him.

"Hey, it's not my fault if you're such a bad martial-artist that you can't sense other people's presence…" Ranma quipped, grabbing her bag.

Akane bopped him on the back of his head, not with her usual strength but enough to make him rub the offended spot. She held a finger to her lips, signalling to him to be quiet, and they sneaked their way down to the kitchen.

"So, what are we having tonight?" Ranma asked with boyish eagerness.

Turning on the radio, Akane started her preparations while talking to him.

"I'm just going to make some sweets tonight… So don't you dare make me mad! Or you'll only get the ruined ones!"

Taking her threat seriously, Ranma held up his hands in a 'Who-me?' motion, sweating slightly. Akane just raised an eyebrow, and ignored him pointedly as she leafed through a cook-book. There were post-it's placed by the recipes of caramels, meringue-tops, and mint and strawberry flavoured candy, and she licked her lips in anticipation as she read them through. The radio-host was introducing a song by Lene Marlin, 'Unforgivable Sinner', as Akane pulled out her supplies and laid them out on the kitchen-counter.

"You know, Ranma… I just don't get you. I've been thinking a lot lately, and while I've been rediscovering myself I just don't understand you…" she suddenly said.

"Huh? What's not to get?" Ranma blinked surprised, his feet dangling over the edge of the countertop where he'd positioned himself to watch her blend and mix.

"Well… One moment, you can be really sweet and understanding, and the next you're acting like a senseless buffoon. Then you're talking as if all your brain cells have taken a vacation, just to come up with a surprisingly deep thought seconds later…" Akane crossed her arms in front of her and leaned her side into the counter, looking directly at Ranma.

Ranma stared at her for several long seconds, sweating with the effort to not get himself thrown out of the kitchen by saying one of his normal off-the-top-of-his-head answers. He vaguely registered that the radio host announced a music wish from a heart-broken boy, but Akane held his gaze and attention in a firm grip.

"Uh… I don't know…" he said weakly.

"Why doesn't that surprise me…" Akane muttered as she turned back to her recipes. "Maybe you should start thinking about it?"

Ranma just nodded, deciding that the safest course was to agree with her for now. Remembering his own vow of being more honest with himself, he grudgingly had to admit that Akane might be right again.

"Ugh, Ranma, could you call inn to the radio station and make a wish for some brighter music? I can't focus properly with that depressing song… Not yet." Akane interrupted his thoughts.

"Sure… What do you wanna hear?" Ranma jumped lightly down from the counter and strolled over to the phone, repeating the number to himself that was for the request line.

"I don't know… Something sweeter, maybe a love-song or at least something more happy… How about Phil Collins? He's got some nice songs…"

"Okay, Phil Collins it is."

Ranma dialled the right number and read his wish to the automatic machine in the other end. As he placed the phone back, he heard another Beatles tune being introduced, and he watched as Akane tapped one of her feet in rhythm with 'Can't Buy Me Love'. She was melting different things in the pots on the stove, and had already placed something in the pre-heated oven. Ranma slid over to the table, sitting down on one of the chairs, and let his thoughts wander as he watched his fiancée at work.

"…and here comes Phil Collins, wished for by 'The Midnight Cook', and we'll play 'One More Night' from our archive…" the radio host's voice drifted through the kitchen, and Akane's movements slowed down to calm gliding motions.

"Heh… 'Midnight Cook'? Sound very mysterious…" Akane grinned to Ranma as she started pouring out the contents of her pots into small muffin-like forms, and then placing the plates with the forms into the freezer for a quick cooling.

"Well, I couldn't use your name since I've promised not to tell anyone about your nightly activities, and I couldn't use mine either, so… that's the best I could do at the spur of the moment." Ranma defended himself.

"See… There you go again, showing me that you've actually got a brain somewhere." Akane teased him.

Ranma went over to her to help cleaning up, and snatched one of her spoons for a taste, burning himself on the warm contents. Akane giggled as she helped him get some cold water to cool down his tongue. He just scowled at her, rinsing his mouth over and over again, but calmed down as she unconsciously stoked his back in soothing circles.

"Poor, little Ranma… Burning himself on the tongue…" Akane tried to hide her grin, but he could still see her eyes glittering playfully.

"Hey! Watch it, or I'll… I'll…"

"You'll what..? Both you and I know that you'd never do anything to hurt me…" Akane said with a small smile.

Ranma fell silent, just staring at her. Wanting to busy his hands, he wandered around to gather the dishes. Suddenly he spoke again.

"Yeah… I'd never want to hurt you. Not intentionally. Whenever you're hurt, it makes me feel so… Bad. Like I've failed." His voice was low and honest, while his hand washed bowls and mixing equipment at chestnut speed.

"Ranma…" Akane gaped at his confession. "I know you never want to hurt me, and I also know – although I might not have admitted it before – that it's not your fault when I've hurt myself trying to prove something. And even if I've said so before, I can't really blame you for other people using me as a bargain chip against you…"

"Please, I know that you'd be better off never knowing me… Well, at least when it comes to all those who's always barging into Nerima looking for me…" Ranma looked seriously at Akane, drying up the last bowls.

"That may be so, but it's been enough people coming for me too, and even though I like to think that I can handle myself well, the fact is that it's much more effective and quick when you're coming to my rescue than taking the time to figure out how to get out of the mess by myself."

Akane was checking the oven and the plates in the freezer as she spoke, and Ranma watched curiously as she pulled out the plate from the oven, with the white, meringue-tops on it. Standing behind her, he didn't want to burn himself again, and waited until Akane handed him one of the tops for a taste. It was sugary and fluffy, full of dry sweetness, and Ranma nodded brightly to Akane in approval. The smile she gave him almost made him stumble, and he dumped unceremoniously down on his chair by the table as she pulled out the chilled candy from the freezer. She experimentally poked her finger on one of the caramels and on some of the candy, popping one of each into her mouth. Again she made sounds of utter joy, sighing and almost moaning with pleasure. Ranma felt a sweat drop appear on his forehead, and chills tickling his spine at the sounds.

"Hey, what about me?" he wined.

Akane grinned at him, throwing him a single caramel. He caught the treat with his mouth, and even as it melted sweetly in his mouth he placed deer-like eyes at her, silently pleading for more.

"Hold your horses, Ran-Ma..! Heh… Don't worry, there's lots more." Akane laughed softly at his expression and her own little joke, filling the table with their sweets.

Although Ranma ate a lot slower than he was known for, he still had cleared up his half long before Akane. Not even glancing at her half, he felt satisfied – feeling that he'd earned his half by helping with the cleaning, and for once wanting to share equally with someone else. In stead he propped his chin in his hand, chatting along about small things that came to mind.

#I've never been so comfortable before… and when have I been interested in chit-chat? Why do I care about what she says? I know I've cared about what she's thought before, but… This feels even more urgent, somehow…# Ranma's thoughts surfaced, his ego arguing with his new attempt at being honest with himself. #Do I care more now than before about her views on things? Do I care about… her…?#

"Here, you can take the last pieces, I'm full." Akane said almost 20 minutes later.

"You sure?" Ranma asked, his hands cupping to accept the sweets Akane held out for him.

"Yeah… I don't want to get sick or anything. And I need to be well tomorrow to present my school-project properly. It's not very impressive if I puke all over my papers…" Akane grinned.

Getting up, she walked over and switched off the radio. On her way over to the exit, she walked over to Ranma, messing playfully with his hair, before she calmly walked off back to her room. Ranma sat perfectly still with his hair sticking out at all angles, still trying to control his breathing and quench his disappointment.

#Maybe later… There'll be other opportunities…#


	5. The Fifth Night

I had a sudden burst of writing energy tonight, so here's another chapter... Hope you'll like it!

**The Fifth Night**

The stars were climbing higher onto the sky as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, darkening the path Ranma was silently trying to follow. He was hungry, but not very tired yet, having missed lunch and dinner thanks to the gang that interrupted his and Akane's school-day by kidnapping her in their gymnastics class.

#God damn it! Stupid rocks, stupid trees!# Ranma silently rambled, almost stumbling. He didn't want to make his presence known just yet, having just caught up with the small gang of men. He wanted to sneak up on them to assess the situation before he decided how to make his next move.

Earlier that day he and Akane had been on their way to school when they literally ran into a gang of five dark-faced men. Akane had apologised deeply, and Ranma had been about to apologise too when Shampoo – his Amazon fiancée – had made one of her classic 'jump-on-Airen-with-bicycle' stunts, giving Ranma a slight concussion and making him forget about the apology in the ensuing fight to pry off his Chinese wannabe-wife. Forgetting the apology had been a bad mistake, since the offended men had followed him and Akane to school, and as soon as Akane was out of Ranma's sight, they'd knocked her out, hauling her off with them as a revenge for their dented honour, and as a consolation prize. Ranma didn't know she was missing until Sayuri and Yuka, Akane's best friends, had come sprinting over to him when they couldn't find Akane. They were all used to things happening to either Akane or Ranma at their school, so no one so much as lifted an eyebrow when Ranma took off in the middle of the class. The men had left a note written in bad Japanese, stating that they'd taken Akane to teach Ranma a lesson in manners, and that he would never see her again…

#No way am I gonna let her get away that easily, not after all the things we've been through! If they've so much as thought a bad word about her, I'm gonna make them pay… I'll make them wish they'd never been born!#

At the sight of their camp fire with Akane placed before it, still in her t-shirt and gym-shorts, tied on her hands and feet but looking unharmed, Ranma sighed in relief. For a couple of minutes he just watched the camp, almost chuckling at the sight of the men respectfully keeping their distance to the fuming girl, all of them sporting bruises or scratches of some kind.

"You'd better cut me loose this instant, or my fiancé will kick your butts!" she growled, sitting straight with royal dignity. "It wasn't his fault that his Chinese bimbo decided to make her untimely entrance…!"

Ranma felt weird listening to Akane defending him, happiness tickling his stomach. Using his famous martial arts abilities, he snuck closer, wanting to free Akane and take her back home with him. Before he could decide whether to free Akane or take out the men first, one of them approached her.

"You be silent, woman! You be all trouble! We tired of your resistance… I loosen bonds now, and you do women's work and cook for us men…!" the man said in broken Japanese, halting in front of Akane with a giant knife at the ready.

Ranma held his breath as Akane's eyes flared with anger. She closed her eyes momentarily, and when she opened them again she had her control back, nodding her consent. The other men pulled their weapons closer to themselves as Akane was freed, obviously needing the protection of their rifles and knives and swords against the little girl. She just smiled sweetly, and started making a meal for the thugs with the ingredients they supplied her with. Ranma gaped, not understanding how she could give in so easily. Then he noticed a wicked smile momentarily flashing over her otherwise calm face, and he realised that she was probably planning her escape by cooking something to knock out her captors. Grinning, he pulled back and decided to wait and watch the consequences of her cooking, feeling strangely proud of her being able to use it as a weapon.

Soon Akane had a stew brewing over the fire, and as she started serving it, Ranma noted that she didn't touch her own portion.

"Here you go, mister." She smiled cutely, handing the last plate to the man that had freed her.

He didn't even thank her, but just grunted as he shoved the food into his mouth. Akane kept playing the cute girl, and served them their third portions before the first man started moaning slightly in pain. The one that appeared to be the leader became alarmed as a second and third man started sweating, and he stumbled towards Akane with his sword pointed threateningly at her. This made Ranma react instantly, jumping out in between Akane and the leader, shielding her. Standing casually in front of the man, looking perfectly relaxed, he smiled quickly at Akane.

"Hi 'kane… I've been looking for you. Have you had your fun yet so we can go home, or is there anything else you'd like to do first?" he drawled with cockiness dripping off of him.

"Ranma! What took you so long!" First Akane sounded delighted, but it soon went over to a mix of real anger caused by her built up fear, and old habits.

"Sorry, but I haven't been here long, just long enough to admire your cooking-skills. Is it lethal?" As Ranma talked with Akane, the leader had unfrozen and started attacking Ranma with his sword. Ranma easily avoided the blade, and he'd just been dancing around for about 15 seconds when the man fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in pain much in the same way as the rest of his gang were.

"No, it'll just make them really sick. I was planning to get away from them now, but I'm glad you're here so I don't get lost on my way home."

Akane stepped closer to Ranma, rubbing her bare arms, and smiled sincerely up at him. He frowned as he noticed how chilled the night was, and knew that she needed more clothes if she wasn't going to get sick. Rummaging through the men's backpacks, he not only found makeshift clothes for Akane, but also lots of unspoiled food supplies. Grinning happily, he took what he needed and put it all in one backpack, while Akane used a couple of safety-pins to wrap herself in some thicker blankets. Before they walked out of the camp, Ranma knelt by the crying leader, and held his head so their eyes met.

"You got out of this easily this time… But if you try to follow us, or if you ever try to take away Akane against her will again, I will be forced to take more drastic actions…" Ranma's words were simple, but the meaning behind them combined with the look in his face, made the man nod his head eagerly, just wanting to get away from the scary boy and the even more terrifying girl.

Ranma took the backpack and hoisted it easily onto his back, and lead the way back into the thick forest with Akane close behind. It was dark in between the trees, the few stars that shone didn't do much to light their path, and the moon was covered by heavy clouds. Stumbling along, Akane tried to keep up with him without tripping in the long cloths hanging around her, and when Ranma suddenly stopped she crashed into him.

"We won't make it back tonight, and making our way through the forest in the dark isn't the safest thing in the world. Would you mind if we find a place to camp, where we can make something to eat and get some sleep?" Ranma asked her as he helped her stand upright.

"Well… Those guys back there will soon start to throw up and then get the diarrhoea, followed by fever and chills, so we have plenty of time to eat and rest." Akane smiled innocently, pulling her blankets tighter.

Ranma raised his eyebrows, happy that she felt he was on her side this time. Automatically taking her hand in his, he led her along for a couple of kilometres before he found a spot he thought was good enough to use as a camp. There was a small, hidden clearing with a drizzling stream, and a couple of trees had fallen over, making a nice roof over a small, flat, grass filled spot on the ground.

"Akane, would you mind making us something to eat while I prepare a place for us to sleep?"

"No, I don't mind… What kind of supplies do we have?" Akane asked, trying to take a peak into Ranma's 'borrowed' backpack.

"Here, you take this, and I'll go get some firewood and something to make a better shelter with."

Ranma took off his backpack, and before Akane had finished looking through it he'd returned with dry firewood. Helping Akane make a fire the 'old fashion' way, he used his chestnut-fist speed to rub two sticks together, creating enough heat to make some dry leaves catch fire, and soon they had a crackling fireplace. Disappearing again as Akane started her cooking, he returned with several long, leaf-filled branches that he used to thatch the 'roof' of their shelter, making it stronger and more isolated against the chilling drafts. Finally satisfied with his work, he went looking for more leaves, moss, and dry grass, using it to soften the ground before he stretched out one of the extra blankets he'd 'borrowed', on top of his make-shift mattress. Returning to Akane by the fire, he sat down next to her as she served something that looked suspiciously similar to what she'd made for her kidnappers. He waited until she'd taken a mouthful of her own portion before he tasted his own.

"Don't worry, Ranma, I did it correctly this time. I don't want to make you sick too, especially since you haven't annoyed me seriously for a long time now." Akane grinned at him, her eyes dancing with mirth.

Ranma smiled back at her, nodding his approval happily as the thick stew made his taste-buds dance with joy. Soon he'd eaten two thirds of the stew, and patted his stomach with great satisfaction.

"Yum, Akane… It was delicious!"

Akane smiled happily at him, her eyes drooping with tiredness. Ranma got nervous as he thought about the shelter he'd prepared, and how he hadn't thought about making them separate sleeping places.

"Uh… Now don't take this the wrong way!" Ranma waved his arms disarmingly. "But I've made just one sleeping place… If you want to, I can sleep here, by the fire…"

"Nonsense! I trust you, Ranma… I know you won't try anything, and I think that it would be best if we could share body warmth tonight… Unless… unless you'd rather sleep alone… It's up to you." Akane finished with a slight blush, shivering as a particularly cold wind swept through their small clearing.

Looking closely at her, Ranma realised that Akane would probably grow cold during the night, her small body not being used to the outdoors, and not even being properly dressed.

"If it's really up to me… then I think we should stay together, to best keep what little warmth we have." Ranma also blushed, barely daring to look at her.

They got ready for bed as best they could, and soon stood awkwardly together in front of the small crawl-in shelter. Both were blushing, and were uncertain about what to do next. Finally Akane sighed deeply, dropping to her knees and crawling in under the trees.

"This is stupid. Come on, Ranma, I'm tired. Let's go to sleep… We can use one of the blankets I've used to keep warm, so we have something covering us also. Now get in here…!"

Ranma gulped, but carefully made his way in after her, his eyes widening at the sight of Akane unwrapping herself slowly. He knew she still wore her shorts and t-shirt underneath, but still he almost panicked at the sight. When Akane drowsily laid down underneath the blankets, gesturing for him to lie besides her, he made a conscious effort at calming down. Gingerly he slipped underneath the blankets, trying to relax. Sucking in a harsh breath as Akane slid closer to him, mumbling about him being much warmer than her, he was staring stiffly into the leaves surrounding them for almost half an hour before he managed to relax enough to fall asleep. The last thing he registered was Akane's content sigh as she snuggled into him, with his arms tightening around her.


	6. The Sixth Night

To everyone that has reviewed my story; **Thank you, thank you, thank you:D** I'm really proud that so many like it, and that people want to read it, and it's really a great motivation to keep writing... So, here's the next chapter...

Enjoy!

**The Sixth Night**

They were closing in on Nerima. Ranma thought they probably were just a couple of miles away from the city border, and would probably be engulfed by the city lights just before the night took completely over again. Akane was trudging behind him, humming softly to herself, and he realised he was grinning goofily as he listened to her happy voice.

#Focus, Saotome! Who knows, those men might decide to try and catch up with us again, and I'm sure it'll be far from a picnic to get through the interrogation from our families when we get home… Better try to think now when I have the opportunity, to plan ahead as best I can… Hmm… Maybe Akane has thought of something smart..?# And his thoughts strayed back to the young woman walking contently behind him, and the events of the day so far.

He had been the first to wake up in their simple shelter, but with the strange surroundings, and the warmth of another body in his arms, he'd been paralyzed for 10 – 15 minutes before his brain also woke and overrode his survival instincts with memories of the previous night. It was broad daylight, and he realised they'd overslept. Akane was still sleeping, her legs entwined with his, her body moulded to his with her back against his chest. She mumbled something sounding like 'Ranma, you pervert' followed by a girlish giggle, and pulled his arms even closer around her if that was possible. Her hair was tickling his chin, with her head resting on one of his arms, and his other arm drawn closely around her waist.

#She's so small… I could easily hold around her and then some with just one arm…# he thought absentmindedly. Not knowing how she'd take it if he woke her up in their current position, he tried to loosen his arm from her death-grip, only resulting in rousing her from her sleep. Sweat-dropping, he quickly closed his eyes, feigning sleep, and tried to slow down his breathing and heartbeat, steeling himself for a possible beating. When several seconds went without anything happening, he almost opened his eyes again, just as Akane started carefully turning around. Trying not to squeeze his eyes shut, he sensed her looking at him, and he almost jerked away when the fingers on one of her hands traced the lines of his face. It was tickling him, and without thinking he automatically tried to swat away her hand as if it was just a fly irritating him. Akane giggled, taking a hold of his pigtail and using the end of it to continue to tickle his face. Not managing to continue feigning sleep, he pretended to wake up, and stared at Akane partially leaning over him, smiling friendly at him.

"Hey there… Slept well?" she asked brightly.

"Uhm… Y-yeah…" he stuttered, wondering why she hadn't mentioned the fact that he was still holding her.

"I think we might have overslept a bit… But I guess we both needed the extra hours, not being bothered by suitors, fiancées, friends or family. Still, we probably should get moving before Father sends out a search-party, which, no doubt, Nabiki will make us pay for." She smiled.

Ranma groaned and momentarily closed his eyes, thinking it was all utterly unfair. Akane slid away from his grip, and he was tempted to hold onto her until he realised what he was thinking. Opening his eyes again, they widened considerably when Akane slid one of her legs over his midsection, straddling his hips for what seemed like hours to him, before she slipped down on his other side and crawled out from their shelter.

#Ohmygods… Now I'm truly turning into the pervert Akane has tagged me as for the last couple of years… Thank the gods that she can't read my mind!# He breathed slowly in through his nose and out through his mouth, using his Soul of Ice to regain his control, before he crawled out after his fiancée.

Akane had already started to prepare the leftovers, adding more of the scraps of food that they had left, and while Ranma got the fire going again, she went to the small stream where she found a private spot to clean up a bit. Ranma watched their breakfast heating up, until Akane came back and he could go get cleaned up too. The cold water triggered his curse, but warming a bit of water over the fire quickly solved his gender problem for the time being. Quickly packing up their things and erasing most of the evidences of a camp ever being set up there, they headed off back home again.

They had just taken a quick stop a couple of times for some water when they came across it, and ate dried beef and other leftovers as they walked.

"Is that Nerima?" Akane asked, breaking off his train of thoughts.

They had just walked up a small hill, and over the next hillcrest they could spot neon lights against the purpling sky.

"Yeah, that would be it. Come on, I'll get us home faster if you'll let me carry you…"

Ranma held out his hands, and Akane let him lift her up in bridal-style, holding on to him as he sprinted off, within minutes reaching the city and bounding off over the rooftops. By the time they reached the Tendo Dojo, Ranma was breathing slightly harder, but he and Akane wore matching grins. Quickly wiping off their smiles as he carefully let her back down in the driveway, they managed to take three steps before Soun came sprinting, sounding like an ambulance siren as he cried, followed by panda-Genma, Nabiki and Kasumi.

"Waaaah! My little baby!" Soun cried rivers, trying to hug Akane, who dodged out of the way and hid behind a grinning Nabiki.

Panda-Genma held up a sign, asking 'Where have you two been?', and grinning bearishly he flipped the sign, a hopeful 'Did you elope and finally get married?' being on the other side.

"Oh my, Akane! I really had hoped that we, as your family, would be present at your wedding." Kasumi smilingly berated her, tripping their father so he stopped chasing Akane around Nabiki.

"Will you all calm down! If we could all get inside, I'll explain everything!" Akane ground out, a bit of her old temper surfacing.

Ranma was using Genma's sign to pound his head in with, dragging the unconscious panda with him after a snickering Nabiki, while Kasumi led a distressed Soun into the living room. As Ranma walked by Akane, she whispered quietly to him,

"Let me handle this, and please, Ranma, try to keep your mouth shut unless you've actually thought through what you want to say…"

Ranma just nodded slightly, letting her know he understood, and brutally yanked his father into the house, leaving him at the floor in the living room. Kasumi came with a teakettle, pouring hot water over Genma and making him revert to his human form at the same time as it woke him.

"Well, Akane, what have you and Ranma been up to this time?" Nabiki asked mischievously from her place at the table.

Spearing Nabiki with a hard look, Akane sat down on her normal place next to Ranma, and started explaining about the encounter with the foreign men a couple of days ago, and how they'd kidnapped her. Ranma even filled in with his part on how he found out about the kidnapping, and before anyone could make him say something stupid, Akane continued to tell a slightly revised story about how Ranma had saved her, and their eventless return.

"It's a good thing that Ranma came to get you then, Akane, or you might not have gotten back here so soon." Kasumi smiled delicately.

"Yeah, he's a true knight in shining armour." Nabiki said sarcastically.

Soun wept for his poor, little baby girl, and blubbered about how brave Ranma was, while Genma slapped Ranma's back proudly, declaring that his son might yet become a man amongst men. Ranma chanced looking at Akane, seeing her sarcastic face expression, but didn't dare say anything that might get him into any more trouble. The fathers took out a large bottle of Sake to celebrate, while Nabiki declared she was going to get whatever beauty sleep she could before school. Kasumi suggested that Ranma and Akane did the same, nudging them towards the stairs.

Before Ranma could escape into his room, Akane held him back briefly on her way to the bathroom.

"You owe me for that one, Saotome." She whispered.

He wondered what she'd make him do to pay her back.

#She did give me the credit for the save, although she poisoned the whole gang on her own, and she kept out the more intimate details that would have gotten us married within hours… So I guess I do owe her.#

"I know, 'kane… Thanks…" he replied in hushed tones, knowing she knew that he wasn't the type who thanked anyone easily.

Akane stopped dead in her tracks, turning slowly back towards him and smiled brightly.

"No, Ranma… Thank you… for all the times you've helped me…"

Ranma stood silently in front of the door to his room, watching her walk off down the hallway. Going into his room he found clean clothes for his own bath later on, and sat down by the wall while he waited for Akane to finish.

#Well… I guess this means that if I'm nice to her, she's nice to me… This could turn out interesting…# He grinned cockily, feeling more invincible than he'd felt in a long time.


	7. The Seventh Night

Finally! Sorry, but everyday work got in the way of my writing... Again, thanks to all that has reviewed this story, I'm positively glowing with all the sweet words I recieve!

To the Hentai who wondered; I haven't planned a lemon chapter in this story, but I don't know if I can stop myself writing lemon-scented episodes or hintings...

So, enjoy!

**The Seventh Night**

His head was pounding, his back ached, several scratches itched, and he had a slight limp on his left leg. He felt extremely sorry for himself as he carefully made his way back to his room from the bathroom, irritation lying just under the surface.

#I should have known… Trust Shampoo and Ukyo to start interrogating me and fighting each other, and dragging me into the middle of it. With Mousse feeling me up, thinking I was Shampoo, my day sure poured quickly down the drain….#

He almost hissed as his bruised ribs stung, holding his side where Kuno had managed to get in a hit on him as Ranma had tried to flee. He'd just managed to break loose from Mousse and run off with Shampoo and Ukyo in hot pursuit, and had crashed into Kuno as he streaked around a corner.

#Well, I guess I should be thankful that I didn't also run into Kodachi and Ryoga… And that Akane went easy on me…#

Grinning at the thought, he remembered how she'd smacked him into orbit when she'd discovered him covered in the other girls. Her eyes had had a calculating look in them, assessing the situation, and he even recognised a fleeting look of compassion. She'd screamed her trademark 'Ranma no baka!', and smacked him with her mallet, but for some reason it didn't hurt as much as usual, and he even believed that she'd planned for him to land in the pond at the Tendo Dojo, sparing him more injuries.

Stepping into his room, he growled at his snoring father. Genma had been after him all day long, nagging about Ranma making a move on Akane, until finally Ranma had had enough and said loudly 'Do you really think that Akane is fat?' to him, knowing she was coming just around the corner. The trashing Genma had received from her was almost worth all the nagging.

Ranma didn't have time to lie down on his mat again before Akane peaked into the room, smiling brightly and waving him over to her. Trying not to show how sore he really was, he stiffly made his way over to her, and promptly was pulled painfully out of the room and after her down towards the living room.

"Hey, could you be a bit less brutal, please!" he hissed at her back.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot that you're not feeling well…"

The teasing grin she gave him made him growl menacingly again, but she did slow down her pace.

"Tell you what, Ranma, why don't you go and sit outside, and I'll just go get us some snacks first…?"

Brightening at the prospect of some late night snacks, Ranma grinned happily as he almost skipped out and sat down on the bench on the porch. He stared out into the night, missing the sight of the clear stars that you seldom could see clearly in the city, but still enjoyed the chilly air and the relative silence surrounding him.

"Here, I made these earlier today when you were busy… dodging people… Heh…"

Akane walked over to him with a blanket in one hand and a plate of crisp cookies in her other hand, placing the things next to him. She quickly disappeared back inside, and returned with two glasses of lemonade, and soon she'd made herself comfortable beside him underneath the blanket, and even threw some of it to cover Ranma's feet too, offering to share the warmth it gave. Ranma accepted one of the cool glasses, and one of the golden, crisp looking cookies.

"Go on, try it..! It's really good!" Akane chirped brightly, watching him with soft eyes as he popped the cookie into his mouth.

"Mmmf… 's good…!" Ranma said with a full mouth, muffling his speech.

Akane flashed him a smile, and happily crunched on her own cookie, staring out into the neon-bright night surrounding them.

"You won't believe how much of a pain in the butt my father has been today…" Akane said conversationally. "He went on and on about how well we were getting along all of a sudden, and how we should use the opportunity it gave us to marry straight away…"

"Humpf… Pops too was nagging me about marrying you… They just won't let us be, do they…?"

For a while they both were in agreement about the total idiots their fathers were, but then they heard a rustle in some bushes nearby, and P-Chan came trotting out. Akane squealed his name, and snapped him up before the confused pig realised where he was.

"P-Chan! I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been, baby?" she gushed over him, getting back to her seat with P-Chan placed securely in her lap.

#Oh no… Ryoga! He'll discover Akane's secret if I don't do anything to get him out of here! …And, get Akane's attention back on me…# Ranma sweat-dropped as he received a fierce glare from the pig, and didn't realise immediately that Akane was still talking.

"…surprised Nabiki hasn't tried to pump me for information yet. I guess that her guilt from the destroyed wedding is keeping her at bay for the moment, but I'm worried that she'll try to put some new bugs in my bedroom one of these days… I overheard her talking to Kasumi today about how she suspected that there was something mysterious going on between you and me."

Akane smiled at Ranma, and didn't notice the pig struggling in her arms to get free to bite Ranma. Ranma did notice though, and kept a vary eye at him, eating another cookie as he tried to keep up his end of the conversation so that Akane wouldn't get angry at him, and without giving anything away to Ryoga.

"Uhm… yeah… Your sisters have been way too quiet lately. I hope it's not a bad sign."

"We'd better be careful so they don't catch on to what we're doing during the nights. I'm having so much fun with you…" Akane blushed prettily, but her words made P-Chan trash violently, and launch himself angrily at Ranma, knocking over Ranma's lemonade.

"P-Chan! Look what you've done! Don't worry, Ranma. I'll go get a towel or something…"

Ranma sat frozen in his girl-form, looking wide-eyed at an equally shocked P-Chan in his lap. Akane had just smacked her pig over the butt as she reprimanded him, and Ranma didn't know if he should be disturbed by the thought of Akane smacking Ryoga's naked behind, or if he should laugh out loud.

Before Ranma or P-Chan could submerge from their shock, Akane returned with a towel… and a hot-water kettle…

#OH SHIT!#

"Akane, don't!" Ranma croaked, watching the kettle tip over in slow-mo.

Hot water hit him, and he felt himself change back, growing in his clothes, and a heavy weight appeared on his now male lap. Lying across his thighs face-down, naked as the day he was born, Ryoga laid frozen from the double shock, with his mouth still biting down on Ranma's hand. Akane stood perfectly still, staring wide-eyed at the sight before her, her thoughts almost visible in her dark eyes as she tried to comprehend the situation. Starting to get his mobility back, Ranma was about to shout out that it wasn't his fault, as he suddenly noticed a bright red handprint on one of Ryoga's naked buttocks. Suddenly angry, Ranma threw the blanked around Ryoga to cover him up, and rolled him off of his lap, brutally snapping Ryoga out of his denial about the situation.

"A-akane! I can explain everything!" Ryoga stuttered, wrapping the blanket more securely around him as he stood. "It's all Ranma's fault!"

"Now just hold on for one freaking second! This isn't my fault! If you'd just gotten to our duel on time, or would have just admitted having a directional problem and given up on chasing after me all the way to China, none of this would've happened!" Ranma growled defensively.

"You bastard!" Ryoga yelled, ready to pound Ranma into the ground.

"Stop it." Akane whispered silently, and both of the boys froze as if their lives depended on it. "Both of you, just stop it! I… I can't deal with this right now…"

Turning around, she walked stiffly back into the house, leaving Ranma and Ryoga alone. Ranma turned to Ryoga with an angry glare, so intense that the lost boy actually stepped back from him.

"You are going to go now, and not breathe a word about this to anyone! Or, by all the gods, I will make sure you'll pay dearly for it!" Ranma whispered menacingly, pushing Ryoga towards the street, where he found Ryoga's backpack and umbrella lying near a leaking draining pipe. "Now get lost! I need to fix the mess you've caused…"

Without waiting for a reply from Ryoga, or to see if he made it all the way to his backpack and clothes, Ranma silently leaped over to the porch with a small grunt as his leg and ribs protested again. Quickly he cleaned up any indiscriminating evidence that might have been left behind, and grabbed the last cookies before he made his way up the stairs to Akane's room, trying to build up his courage for what he was about to do. Before his hand could reach out and touch her door, Akane opened it from the inside. Staring at him with a guarded expression, she stepped aside to let him inside. Ranma gulped nervously, and tried to give her a friendly and reassuring smile as he went to sit on her desk, putting down the cookies on the table before he unintentionally crushed them in his tight fists.

The silence stretched out between them, Akane not making a sound as she sat down on her bed. Ranma looked concernedly at her, but couldn't see any signs of tears or any kind of despair. Not able to take the silence any longer, Ranma hesitantly touched her arm in a comforting gesture.

"Yo, Akane… Are ya okay?"

Locking her eyes onto his own wide ones, she just sighed softly and deflated slowly.

"Ranma? What just happened?"

"Uhm… Well, you see… I didn't know about Ryoga also having a curse until you told me to bathe him the first time – remember that night? Anyway, I discovered his secret then, and giving my word as a martial-artist, I promised not to reveal his weakness to anyone… Five minutes later, you adopted him as P-Chan…"

"But… How could you not tell me? And how did he get his curse? Does it have something to do with him always wanting to beat you up? …how could you not tell me!"

"I just told you, I gave him my word… He… he followed me and pop to China, when I wasn't waiting for him after that bread-feud thing. He's told me that he followed us all the way to Jusenkyo, and got knocked into a spring by a raging girl chasing a panda…"

"Please don't tell me… You're feeling guilty about it." Akane grumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"Yeah… I'm sorry… I didn't mean for you to get into this mess… I even tried to give you clues, but-…" Ranma cut himself off, not wanting to accidentally ignite her anger by calling her stupid or anything like it.

"…oh, no… Shit. It all makes sense now. Your reactions, your taunting… Ryoga's mysterious knowledge, the similarities between him and P-Chan… The disappearances and reappearances…" Akane's voice died out, and she glared threateningly at the floor under her feet. "Ranma, could you leave me alone to think? I'm so confused right now… Angry at you, angry at Ryoga, angry at myself… Ohmygods! I've let Ryoga cuddle up to my…! The pig! The things I told him, the things he knows!" Her eyes filled with tears, and Ranma almost panicked.

"Please, don't cry… You can hit me if you want to! Just, don't cry…"

Akane looked up at him, a couple of tears hanging stubbornly to her dark eyelashes, and smiled painfully at him.

"No, Ranma. I'm not going to hit you, not now… I need to get it right this time. Go back to sleep, we'll talk tomorrow…"

Ushering him over to the door, she suddenly seized him from behind, and hugged him briefly before she pushed him roughly out the door, locking it behind him. Ranma rubbed his offended ribs, ignoring the jump his heart had made, and prayed that Akane wouldn't plan anything too painful as her revenge on him and Ryoga.


	8. The Eight Night

And I'm back... Yippi-kay-ey! Just a couple of things I want to say before I let you guys get on with reading the story...;

Lerris - You're my toughest critic, but I got to admit that you get me thinking... I'm trying to clear out a couple of the things you think it problematic, and I know I also have a (bad?) habit of putting a lot of meaning in between the lines. I don't like it when things are spelled out too clearly, all the fun goes out of it then... But the story isn't over quite yet, so maybe everything will solve itself in the end...

encycer- You confused me a bit when I first read your review... Ranma and Akane never really got married... Their wedding was wrecked by the rest of the Nerima crew, and therefore Ryoga hasn't quite given up on being the one closest to Akane. And since I'm a big-time fan of Akane&Ranma, I'm not going to couple up everybody else in Nerima... It just gets old how everyone needs to get someone special at exactly the same time. Maybe I could do it in another fic, but this one is all planned out.

So, to all you other guys who keep reading my fic, and especially to those who leave me all those wonderful reviews... THANK YOU! You truly make my day! So... Enjoy!

**The Eight Night**

Walking groggily downstairs the next morning, Ranma froze as he saw Akane having a whispering conversation with Nabiki at the living room table. The sisters were sitting closely together, and he didn't like the aura surrounding them. He instantly knew that he needed to be careful around them.

Nabiki noticed him standing perfectly still in the background, and Akane turned to him to see what had caught Nabiki's attention. Seeing Ranma, she smiled slightly, making Ranma tense up even more.

"Good morning, Ranma… Slept well?" Nabiki drawled, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Um… Morning…" Ranma grunted in greeting, quickly retreating into the kitchen for safety and something to eat.

By the time he walked back into the living room, Nabiki had left, while Akane still sat by the table. Ranma noticed that Akane's eyes were slightly puffy, indicating that she'd shed quite a few tears during the night, and he almost cringed at the sight.

"You okay?" he almost whispered.

"…I don't know." Akane replied softly after a moment of tense silence.

"Are you very mad at me?" Ranma found himself asking in a small voice.

"Honestly? No, not VERY mad, but a bit mad – yes… It hurts that you didn't just tell me at once… But a lot of it is anger directed at myself… There were lots of clues that I should have gotten, but I let it all slip as I believed that you both were my friends, and I trusted that you would tell me if anything was wrong…"

Her voice was silent, and for some reason Ranma kept thinking about the hissing sound of a fuse burning towards a barrel of dynamite.

"A-akane… I tried to tell you… but I promised… and you were stubborn… and Ryoga just wouldn't give it up…"

"Ranma..! You just as many times protected the secret from being revealed to me! While I tried to sleep last night I remembered several times when you had the chance of exposing him without it being your fault at all… and instead you helped him to cover it up… Helped him trick me."

Ranma looked down at his shuffling feet in shame, feeling worse than before as her soft words left him defenceless. He could sense her shifting about, turning more fully towards him, and steeled himself for whatever she wanted to do to him as his punishment.

"Relax, I'm not going to hit you, Ranma… I've talked with Nabiki, and in exchange for telling her and Kasumi about my secret later, the part about seeing mother again and talking with her, she's agreed to help me out."

Meeting her calm, brown stare, Ranma felt himself sweating at the thoughts of all the nightmarish things Nabiki could plan for him and Ryoga.

"What! You've set Nabiki loose on us? May the gods have mercy on our souls...!" Ranma moaned, dropping down to his knees next to Akane.

Akane petted his hand, and winked at him before she smoothly got to her feet and left the room, leaving Ranma staring into the air with a terrified look on his pale face.

**#8#8#8#8#**

It was late enough that Ranma could finally excuse himself and go to bed for the night, barricading himself in his room. He hadn't discovered what Nabiki was planning yet, but the wait was just as bad, as his nerves made him jumpy, and his imagination kept coming up with horrifying things that made his stomach turn.

#I don't know what's worse, waiting for something to happen, or finding out what's in store for me… With Nabiki involved, I believe I'm almost better off just imagining the things she might do. Wow, I'm actually being honest with myself, admitting that Nabiki on the warpath scares me shitless… Well, since I'm being honest… all the Tendo sisters scare me shitless when they're mad…#

Ranma almost chuckled at the thought of him – martial artist extraordinaire – being scared of the girls, but his imagination conjured up the sight of all three sisters being mad at him, and he swallowed heavily as he glanced warily around his room.

Earlier in the evening Akane had told her sisters of her near-death experience and her conversation with their mother, resulting in all the girls coming out crying from Akane's room afterwards. Actually, he'd only seen Akane and Kasumi cry, but Ranma suspected that Nabiki had cleverly covered up her own tears before anyone else saw her and destroyed her reputation. The sight of the crying Kasumi had scared Genma into spending the night with Ranma's mother at their own house, leaving Ranma with strict instructions to stay and fix whatever he was sure Ranma had done to them. Nodoka – Ranma's mother – had agreed with Genma that he should stay, if not for the same reasons. She told her son to be manly, and stay and 'comfort' Akane, when Ranma had tried to follow them to get away from Nabiki.

Although the girls tears had kept his other fiancées at bay, making Shampoo, Ukyo and even Kodachi feel out of place at the Tendo house, Ranma wished he didn't feel so completely lost as he witnessed the sisters' bittersweet pain. Soun had been a wreak all day long, not knowing what had happened to his girls, and Ranma hadn't been able to stay a boy for more than a few seconds at a time because of the floods of tears, another reason that his female suitors so willingly left him alone for the time being.

Ranma looked over at his school-books, wondering if he should do some of his homework to make time pass until he could sleep. He always fell asleep at school, so if he were to do some homework he was sure to fall asleep quickly. The thought of Akane stopped his hand as he hesitantly reached for his history book.

#Will she cook tonight? But even if she is, there's no guarantee that she'll let me tag along again…#

Flopping down on top of his blanket, he felt something like depression fill him up, thinking about Akane being mad at him and not letting him taste her cooking ever again. He cursed loudly at Ryoga, blaming him for getting him into this situation in the first place, and sunk deeper into depression.

"Ranma? Aren't you going to join me tonight?"

Akane's whisper made Ranma jump, tripping over his feet and arms and land clumsily facedown on the floor next to his sleeping mat. He hadn't realised that the house had grown silent during his bout of self-pity, and still felt slightly out of it.

"Huh? I thought you were mad at me?" Ranma whispered as he got up and rubbed his bruised head, turning towards Akane, who peaked in through the door at him.

"I told you, I'm just a bit mad at you… Actually, I'm more hurt and disappointed than mad at you, but I'm not about to let old mistakes destroy our newly developed friendship. Unless you don't want to be friends anymore..?"

Ranma felt as if he'd been kicked in the stomach when Akane so easily said that he'd hurt and disappointed her, and a desperate need to make it up to her filled him.

"I'm probably not even worthy of your friendship, but I'll take it if you're still willing to give it." He whispered softly, trying to read her facial expression in the dark room as he knowingly left himself vulnerable to her words if she wanted to hurt him back as he'd hurt her.

"Heh, heh, heh… I know I'm far from perfect, Ranma, you're giving me too much credit. Besides, I've always wanted to be your friend. Come on, I thought I'd just make us some Ramen tonight." Akane laughed, making Ranma feel a whole lot better, and she left the room without looking to see if he'd follow.

#Akane, if anyone's close to perfection, it's you…# Ranma thought affectionately, not registering his own thoughts as he scurried after her.

"Akane? Is there anything I could do that would make you soften your revenge for the mess with Ryoga?" Ranma asked breathlessly as he caught up with her.

She looked at him as she fiddled with her supplies-bag, almost making him blush at the scrutiny.

"Maybe… For you. But not for Ryoga…! He's had his chances."

"I'm not sure I want you to go easy on him either. And I know I've screwed up royally, but I never meant to harm you in any way – you've got to believe me…! It's just… I tried to help Ryoga as I felt kind of sorry for him, and he made me feel responsible for his curse too. And despite everything, I still count him as a friend."

Ranma automatically went over to the radio in the kitchen, finding the same station they always listened to, and helped Akane take out the tools she needed.

"Swear to me that you'll never keep something that important from me again, and I'll make Nabiki soften up on you… But, you'll owe me one for it!" Akane pierced Ranma with her dark eyes, daring him to protest, and momentarily stopped her preparations.

"Sure, anything you want..!" Ranma breathed in relief, not thinking about the possible consequences of his promise.

Akane kept his gaze locked within hers for a few more seconds, before she nodded in satisfaction and continued with her cooking. She slowly relaxed, and was soon humming to the rhythms from the radio, and Ranma also relaxed and just enjoyed watching her work, happy that she was smiling again.

"It's good to see you smile again." He mumbled to himself.

Akane heard him, and sent him a dazzling smile, making his jaw drop. She just ignored his dumbfounded look, and let him sit in astounded silence while she finished up the meal. Pouring two bowls with steaming Ramen for them, she carried them over to the table where Ranma was still sitting and staring at her with large eyes.

"Here, take a bite and see if it's okay."

Snapping his mouth shut, Ranma accepted one of the bowls and inhaled the tantalising aroma coming from it. Being careful to not scold his mouth, he took his first mouthful, and instantly felt the taste fill him with a food-lovers joy and awe. He smiled brilliantly at Akane, who blushed and looked down into her own bowl, just to look back up at him with an astound look as she tried the Ramen for herself.

"It's good, really good..!" she said, sounding almost surprised.

"It's not just good, it's delicious." Ranma said brightly, feeling better with each bite.

"Thank you, Ranma…" Akane said shyly, looking at him through the corner of her eyes.

Ranma just grinned, and happily chatted with her about some of the things he'd imagined Nabiki could attempt as Akane's revenge, making her giggle at the variety and imagination Ranma showed. Soon, both of them were immersed in a conversation about the things she could do to Ryoga, and what Akane had told her sisters about her long talk with their mother. As Akane's eyes filled with tears again, Ranma automatically pulled her into a comforting hug, not realising what he was doing until Akane sniffled against his shirt. Stiffening slightly, but not moving since Akane hadn't protested yet, Ranma tried to come up with something to distract her thoughts. Looking around the kitchen, he suddenly realised something profound.

"'kane…? Do you know what? You just made the best Ramen I've ever eaten…"

Akane lifted a tearstained face, looking at him with a questioning gaze without moving away from his light embrace.

"Uhm… Thank you?"

"No, that's not what I meant… You easily made the best Ramen I've ever tasted, and I've eaten a lot of Ramen… Point being – you made a hell of a lot better Ramen than Shampoo has ever been able to make…"

This made Akane light up, a glow filling her eyes and face with happiness and hope, easily chasing away her earlier so gloomy thoughts.

"Ranma… I think you just gave me an idea… But I need to think it over first." Akane said intensely, suddenly bursting with energy as she jumped up and started cleaning up the slight mess they'd left in the kitchen.

Warmth from both her smile and her earlier closeness still filled Ranma, and made him keep his curiosity at bay, trusting her to tell him what she was thinking about when the time was right. Helping her with the dishes, he let her think without interrupting, and even kept quiet as they walked back upstairs. Nearing the place where they would separate for the night, Akane put a hand on his arm to halt him.

"I'll talk to Nabiki in the morning, to make sure she lets you off easily, and I'll tell you about my plan tomorrow night, okay? I just need to take care of some details first… A bit more thinking…"

Ranma nodded, feeling a lot better after re-establishing his friendship with Akane, getting his stomach filled with mouth-watering food, and the promise of both getting to know Akane's idea soon, and avoiding the worst of Nabiki's plans. Without thinking, Ranma swiftly bent down and kissed Akane softly on the mouth.

The feel of her warm lips pressed against his own made his head spin, and he even slightly nibbled innocently on her bottom lip before he realised what he was doing. Pulling back with extremely slow motions, shocked at the intense feelings that was at war inside of him, he longingly glanced at her mouth before he steeled himself and met her fiery eyes. Akane was staring at him, red in the cheeks, and slowly raised a hand to hesitantly touch her lips. Ranma felt his gaze drawn back her mouth again as she traced her red lips slowly with the tips of her pale fingers, and he desperately wanted to kiss her again. He didn't know if she could read the desire in his facial expression, but her eyes widened even more as she watched him. She didn't scream at him or hit him, just stared at him with an unreadable expression, and didn't even try to move away from him. Several strong heart-beats later she finally moved, just to place the hand that had touched her mouth on his chest instead, and smiled enigmatically at him before she let her hand drop, and at long last turned from him and walked back to her room, leaving Ranma alone yet again with his rampaging feelings.

#Wha-..?#

**Authors notes:**

**So... okay kiss? #grins#**


	9. The Ninth Night

Okay, yet again I've managed to put down another chapter... Yehey...! #grinning# But first, I've got some **questions**;

_First question_: I'm trying to come up with something original and/or nasty as Ryoga's punishment... There's a couple of things I'm thinking about, but I'd love to get ideas and inspiration from you guys, if you'd share it?... Maybe I can use some of it, or it'll give me the perfect idea... I hope...

_Second question_: This fic is drawing near the end, and I'm already starting to think about a possible epilogue... Possibly with a good dash of lemon.. Do you think that a lemon would destroy the story, or should I let loose my dirty imagination?

And now I'd like to reply to the resent review's I've gotten...

**celestial lelila** - Thanks for the great review! You won't believe how much my ego swelled... heh, heh, heh... And I'm glad you caught on to the things in my story that lie at the base of my plot... Hope you'll enjoy the rest just as much!

**AKU** - Thank you! I'm so proud that you like my story...! I'll do my best to keep the quality up.

**borg rabbit** - Hey there... You keep reviewing, and I really appreciate it! I got a good laugh out of your idea, thanks! We'll see, but I don't think I've got the hang of writing comedy... Though it would have been cool to write a humourous revenge on Ryoga.

**Biyabo** - I guess you're all for a hentai epilogue with double sprinklings of lemon...? #grin# For those other questions of yours... You'll just have to wait and read the story, just like the others... Muahaha!

**Lacy1** - The story was sent to you? Hope you'll like Akane's plan, although there'll be more details in later chapters as the plan is put into action... For Akane's revenge on Ryoga... That's still work in progress, and I'm hoping for something original.

**Lerris** - Hey again! Glad you liked my "burning fuse/dynamite barrel" line, as for the line with the Tendo's crying so hard that Ranma couldn't change back to a boy for long... Well, I've never seen any of the Ranma anime, so I really didn't intend to use an anime gag... Actually, I haven't even red the entire manga series, but I still try to get things right... Or, I hope I'm getting things right. The fact that I've just red the manga and not seen the anime might also explain my characteristics of Ranma and Akane, as I feel that the pocket-books show a lot of quiet moments for Akane and Ranma together in between their more caotic moments, and a lot of softness too. Plus, I wrote this fiction with the intention of both writing something new (and hopefully good), and to take the Ranma story and change it somewhat into real life... That's why I've tried to make people react naturally to things. And as I've let most of the action play out in nightime, there's not to say that there isn't a lot of chaos going on during daytime... As I've tried to indicate. Anyways, hope you'll like this chapter too...

**eckobaby101** - Sorry, but I didn't make Akane kiss Ranma... Well, not directly... Just read and see. Hope you'll like it anyways... Cheers!

**nonengel** - Thank you for reading it...! Glad you took the time!

**AntiSclAngl** - Yey! I rock! Muahaha!

**Shima** - Envision my grin stretching from ear to ear (okay, not a pretty picture, but let's say it's just figuratively speaking/writing), as I'm reading your review again and again... I'm way beyond honoured that you find my fic good enough to fight for the position as your favourite... Hope I'll be able to meet your demands all the way throught!

**pontathon** - Love your review! I'm so happy that you understand the main lines in my story, and that you think I'm getting it right. I LOVE GETTING GOOD REVIEWS AND GREAT CRITICS! #laughing joyously#

**Valakun** - Glad you like the story... The way it's original (I've never read or heard of anything similar to it) is my whole reason for writing it in the first place. I just don't see the point of writing something that's been written to death before and again... I'll do my best to finish it with pride and dignity... heh, heh, heh...

**MidnightRiuupu** - Again: YEY! With all this praise, I just might get a serious case of majorly inflated ego... But, just keep it coming!

And, without further ado... On with the story!

**The Ninth Night**

Michael Bublé's 'Feeling Good' was floating softly through the kitchen, with Akane swaying and wiggling in tune with the music. Ranma couldn't look away from her, and cursed himself for his lack of personal control, and not being able to steer his thoughts away from her.

When he'd finally been able to sleep last night, his dreams had been filled with Akane and the kiss they'd shared, each dream slightly different from the last one in the way she responded, the place they would be during the kiss, and things they would say to each other afterwards. During the night his dreams had become bolder, until he woke up sweating after a hot make out session on Akane's bed, with Akane moaning his name with heavy desire lacing her voice.

During the day he'd exploded into blushes each time Akane caught him staring at her, but she'd just smiled secretively and turned away, letting him continue to look longingly at her. Ukyo had started fussing, sure that something bad was happening, but he'd fled the scene before his foot-in-mouth technique would earn him pain from his childhood friend.

And now he was watching Akane make Okonomiyaki, the smell already making him drool. At least he hoped that it was the food that made him drool, and not the fact that his eyes were currently glued to Akane's swaying hips, staring at the way her plain cotton pyjamas pants clung to her rounded behind.

"Oooh, I love this song!" Akane squealed as a new song begun, the radio host introducing 'La Tortura'.

Latin rhythms emanated from the radio, and Ranma knew that his drooling had nothing to do with the food this time as Akane snapped her fingers and swayed her hips, dancing slowly while cooking. Her moves were strangely erotic to him, and when she loaded two plates with Okonomiyaki and took them to the table, he never saw her triumphant smile as he quickly diverted his eyes when she turned. However, his eyes quickly popped back to meet her sparkling gaze as she held out an Okonomiyaki to him, intending to hand feed him.

"Here… Try this, and tell me truthfully if you've ever tasted a better one…" she mumbled in a low voice, smiling lazily as Ranma carefully bit into the warm food without trying to take it from her hand.

For a long moment he just stared at her as he chewed slowly, knowing that Ukyo had never even been close to cooking something that made his body almost purr with joy like this.

"It's… good… delicious… beyond this world…" he finally said, after having swallowed his treat.

Akane smiled brilliantly at him, and plopped his Okonomiyaki back onto his plate, placing it before him. Ranma almost pouted at not being hand fed anymore, but his pout turned into slack jaws and large eyes as Akane started licking her sticky fingers, her moist tongue slowly twirling around each of her fingers before she took one finger at a time in her mouth, sucking on them with small sounds of contentment coming from deep in her throat. His eyes darted up to her half closed eyes, seeing her dark eyes staring laughingly at him, and looked back down to how her red lips left a trail of moistness around her fingers as she slowly sucked on them. Feeling his breath hitch in his throat, just to quicken along with his rampaging pulse, he noticed how she'd let her own breath grow deep and heavy, just as she stopped her torture with a last lick to her index finger.

"Mmm… Yeah, it's good." She purred, delicately starting to nibble on her own Okonomiyaki as if nothing at all had happened.

#NOW she suddenly decides to get all sexy!# Ranma roared in his mind, trying to focus on his food in stead of looking at Akane, or feeling how he wouldn't have the chance of getting away from the cover of the table anytime soon because of his current condition. #Great, now I'm gonna have to sit here until my hormones and other overexcited things calm down, unless I want to get deadly embarrassed in front of her… 'Sexy Akane'… When did that happen? Oh, wait… Didn't she say once that she could be sexy if she wanted to? Yeah, something about her wanting someone to be sexy for…#

"Ranma? Can I ask you something"

Akane's voice interrupted his thoughts, and he nodded without daring to look at her.

"Do you… Um… I mean… We're friends, right? And, friends help each other… So, if you want to get together with Shampoo or Ukyo, I'll help you…"

This made Ranma snap his head up so fast that his vision blurred for a second, before locking onto Akane's face. She was trying to meet his stare, but her eyes kept wandering down to her fidgeting hands. Ranma was shocked speechless, wondering what the moment earlier had been all about if she now wanted to get rid of him.

"But, if you don't want them as anything more than friends, I think I've got an idea that can help you…" she finished her stuttering speech.

Ranma relaxed again, the shock having scared his stiff member to soften so that he no longer felt uncomfortable in his rather tight boxers, and he started grinning.

"You know of a way to make them back off? I'm definitively listening."

"So… You're sure you don't want any of them as your girlfriend?" Akane asked softly.

"Ugh, no thank you… Ukyo is my pal, and I've never felt anything more than that towards her. And Shampoo… I'd never be able to trust her. And trust is important to me… Say, could this idea of yours get rid of that nutcase Kodachi too while we're at it?" he asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I believe so… I'm going to challenge them…"

Ranma stared incredulously at her, fear for her safety building up in him.

"WHAT?" he almost yelled. "No way! You're not going to fight them, any of them! I'm not letting you willingly into a situation that could get you hurt! Not a chance! I'm not letting you get hurt ever again!"

"Ranma, hush! That's not what I meant!" Akane whispered furiously, her temper bubbling just underneath the surface.

Although she had matured a whole lot because of recent events, she still had a Temper Deluxe, especially when things gnawed on her patience. The big difference was that rage wasn't her first outlet anymore, she just as easily cried or laughed, or became solemn or giddy, even more now than she had before. Ranma was glad that she hadn't changed that much, and liked the fact that he now was getting to know the colourful girl he'd glimpsed so many times, the girl he'd wanted to stay close to.

"Then what DID you mean?" he grumbled stubbornly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Think about it… What have I been training in lately…? What part of me have I been rediscovering…? What have I proved to you that I'm not just good at, but maybe even better at than the other girls…."

Looking from her sly grin down to his empty plate and back up again, he finally understood, and a matching grin grew on his own face.

"Exactly!" Akane grinned. "I believe it's time to reveal my talent…"

"What do you want me to do…?" Ranma asked excitedly.

"Well, if you could help me to spring the trap… We could trick one of them into challenging me, and I know that the other two will show up too and join in on the contest. You'll be the judge, of course, and maybe you'll even be able to make a few rules or something to make sure they can't get out of the deal afterwards…"

"I can do that. How about we stage a fight between us, to tempt them into challenging you..?"

"Yeah, we could do that…"

Whisperingly, they soon had a rough outline on a plan, and Ranma felt giddy at the thought of ending up with just one fiancée, believing that Akane had the victory in hand already. Glancing over at her as they washed the dishes, he summed up the fact that she hadn't punched him the night before when he'd kissed her, she'd trusted him with her secret night-time cooking practice, asked him to join her again even after the hurtful revelation about Ryoga, the fact that she'd practically been flirting with him all night, and that now she was helping him get rid of the other girls. Grinning at his private conclusion, he came up with the beginnings of a plan of his own. But first he wanted more proof.

"Uhm… Akane?"

"Yes?" Akane turned to him after draining away the last of the water and soapsuds from the sink, and smiled at him.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" he asked her in a serious voice.

"Mad at you? I told you, it's more disappointment and hurt than anger… Haven't we been through this already?"

"No, I meant about the kiss… Why aren't you mad that I kissed you last night…?"

The silence thickened the air in the kitchen, muffling the radio. Akane had frozen, first growing pale and then redder by the second. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and her eyes flickered slightly, but she seemed unable to tear away from his firm stare.

"'Cause I thought you'd at least smack me in the face, or scream at me… But instead, you're helping me with those other crazed girls, which will leave you as my only fiancée…" Ranma continued when Akane couldn't seem to do anything else but to gape at him.

"I… I…I know…" she finally whispered.

Ranma waited uncharacteristically patient for her to continue, looking down at the young woman in front of him that was blushing heavily. She just kept staring at him, searching his eyes for some kind of answer, and Ranma felt his own face heating up. His eyes grew large as she slowly stepped closer to him, and carefully stood on her toes while supporting her hands to his chest, bringing herself closer to his red hot face.

"A-akane?" Ranma stuttered, almost panicking at her closeness.

Holding one finger to his lips, she silenced him, and with deliberate slow motions she brought her face closer to his. He thought she was going to kiss him, his breathing getting laboured, and fought back an unmanly squeak of surprise when she in stead let the tip of her tongue slide carefully from just under his ear, along his jaw, and to the tip of his chin. The moist trail left his skin feeling tingly, and he stared down into her dark eyes in shock. He thought he could read something there, almost seeing her soul, and felt his control slowly seep back. A small smile graced her lips, and she quickly stepped back and turned to leave him much like the other night – with questions and desires burning inside of him – but with his control back in place he knew well what he wanted. Reaching out, he firmly grabbed her arm and twirled her back towards him, making her stumble into his chest.

"Oh, no you don't" he almost growled, his blue eyes darkening as he smiled down to her. "You're not getting away that easily…"

Being careful not to hurt her, he pressed her back towards the kitchen wall, making sure that she couldn't get away from him. She didn't try to get away from him either, just looked at him with glittering eyes and blushing cheeks, her hands gripping fiercely onto his sleeveless shirt. His hands were planted on the wall on each side of her, and without hesitation he leaned down and kissed her firmly, with closed lips, and slowly pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and sucked carefully on it. Akane's hands relaxed against his chest, and he groaned deeply as he felt her small tongue dart out to caress his top lip. The groan made him open his mouth slightly, and he stiffened in surprise as she slipped in her tongue. The feeling was alien at first, but with small, playful caresses she made him meet her tongue with his own, and after a bit of nervous fumbling he felt they were getting the hang of things. He pressed himself more tightly against her, eagerly kissing her, and shivered as he heard her small groan of pleasure and excitement. Drawing in ragged breaths in between the kisses, Ranma kept her trapped between himself and the wall, relishing in the fact that he could feel every soft curve on her body pressed against him. Lifting her up, he brought her legs up so that she could wind them around his hips, and kept her back pressed to the wall. That way he had easier access to her mouth, and he took full advantage of it, kissing her deeply while he let his hands caress her face.

"Ranma…" Akane moaned silently, throwing back her head as he let his mouth wander down her chin and jaw, and over her sensitive throat.

The music on the radio was suddenly interrupted by the hourly news rapport, and Ranma and Akane snapped back to reality. They stared at each other, breathing heavily. Ranma couldn't tear his eyes away from her, drinking in the way her tousled hair framed her cute face, her slightly swollen, red lips still moist from their kisses, her eyes dark with what he hoped to be desire for him. He kissed her softly once more before he stepped back and let her slide back down to her feet. She wobbled slightly, and he let her support herself on him.

"Wow…" they chorused in breathless voices, both with nervous smiles.

Ranma brought his hand up to caress Akane's cheek, grinning more and more boldly.

"Okay, I'm beginning to like the thought of having you as my only fiancée… I really, really like it…" he grinned broadly.

"Me too…" Akane whispered shyly.

#Yeah, I really like this… And more than just like it… More than just like her… much more…# Ranma thought as he smiled at his favourite fiancée. #And as soon as I get the guts to, I'm gonna tell her.#


	10. The Tenth Night

**Hello everybody!**

**Sorry about the long wait! Life came and interrupted…**

**First, a general response to the reviewers:**

**- Thank you for all kind words! I'll do my best to deserve them!**

**- Those of you who reacted on Akane's sudden super-cooking skills... It's just a fic... And relax, the story isn't over yet... And, I never intended to insult anyone, I just thought it made sense that some people take easier to some things than others do.. So, I'm not going to change anything there...**

**- About me making Akane too perfect... Yes, I just realised that I probably have made her too perfect, which was not my intention... But, just keep reading, and things will make more sense...**

**- I have planned what the revenge on Ryoga will be, and it'll be in the next chapter... Thank you to those who had some suggestions... But, I ended up coming up with something entirely different...! (surprise!) Although I'm thinking about borrowing something from _Lacey52_'s idea...**

**- The cooking contest, which will be in the 12th chapter, will also be the last chapter...**

**- There won't be a lemon in this fic... If I write a lemon, I'll put it up as a one-shot... But, I'm not promising anything...! If you want to read about Akane and Ranma 'doing it', then go to the full version of my fic Wounded on mediaminer(dot)org.**

_Vaniah_ - Wow... That's a seriously loooong review... #Phew# But, I'm flattered that you took the time to write it... I do realise that I have made Akane appear a bit too perfect so far, which wasn't my intention, but it'll change a bit as the story goes on... But, if you don't like the story, then don't read it... I'm not going to force you to do anything... I appreciate your effort, but both Wounded and Midnight Cook is OOC intentionally... The 'what-if's' that started the stories in my head changed vital things in the story that was ment to change the characters too... I'm mainly borrowing the plot in Ranma 1/2, and the storyline... So therefore I don't feel obliged to keep true to the characters... I might try to write a fanfic later on where I keep everyone in originalcharacter, but for now I'm just playing around with my 'what-if's'... The reason as to why I'm listing up all the music, is simply to indicate that there is music in the background... It'll all become clear later on in the story, as it is a point as to why I constantly reminding you that there's music playing... The music I'm listing is completely random, and the only important part is whether it's happy or sad or whatever... Parts of your review seriously irritated me, as it just sounded idiotic that you 'really tried to like it', and if my story irritates you as much as some of your review did me, then then please... Just - don't - read - it...! You got my brain turning a gear, but I'm not changing much in my story anyways... And that's just the way it's gonna be...

**Now, for those who's interested, here's the next chapter in Midnight Cook;**

**The Day Leading To, And The Following (Tenth) Night**

Confusion and nerves had filled the day so far. Ranma had realised that there was something about the night and the dark that relaxed him, that made it so much easier to deal with emotions and sensitive subjects. And that something seemed to turn to dust during the daytimes, complicating things that had felt so easy and logical only hours earlier.

Akane was walking beside him, using all her acting abilities to hide her blushes, and Ranma hoped that he was the only one who noticed the shy look in her eyes whenever she was around him. His own Soul Of Ice was becoming one of his favourite techniques to avoid pain and embarrassment, and other scary things that his family could do if they saw his own blushes and silly grins. He just hoped that he wouldn't overdo it, and that way make them catch onto that something was happening.

They had been walking around for some time now, and since they were looking for fiancée-trouble, they met no one. Except the old lady with the water ladle.

"Damn!" Ranma groaned, feeling especially pissed off as he realised that the water had actually been warm this time, and that it was his own use of cold chi that had turned the water cold enough to trigger his curse. He heard a slight giggle beside him, and felt a bit better as he felt some of the earlier tension between them disappear.

"Pig-tailed girl!" came a shout from behind them. "Akane Tendo!"

"Oh no! This is not the trouble we're supposed to get in!" Akane groaned from beside him. Ranma didn't even have the time to reply before both he and Akane were crushed in a hug by Tatewaki Kuno – long-time admirer of both Akane and of Ranma's girl form.

"My loves! The gods have once again reunited us! Come, we must date!" Kuno ranted on, oblivious to the two girls glares filled with promises of death and serious mutilation.

"Fuck no!" Ranma growled, not bothering to be gentle as he almost ripped off Kuno's arms as he first freed Akane and then himself. "Listen up, you Looser! If you really love… -yuck- …us… as you claim that you do, you'll leave us the fuck alone! Get it, you fucking psycho!" Ranma almost screamed into Kuno's face, standing on his toes to gain a few inches in his attempt to be as intimidating as possible in his ever-cute girl form.

"Such passionate words… Yes, I understand, my love… No fucking unless we're alone…!" Kuno grinned broadly down at Ranma, who stood frozen in shock before him.

"What! HENTAI!" Akane screamed, another one of her trademark war-cries, and had Kuno firmly implanted in the asphalt in front of Ranma before he could blink. "How the hell did he end up with that conclusion?" Akane cried out shrilly to Ranma, waving her club threateningly at the unconscious pancake-form of Kuno.

Ranma cringed at Akane's slightly panicked voice, and without thinking he pulled her close, holding her in a comforting embrace. Akane automatically clung to him, easily circling his small form with her arms. And this was the sight that greeted Kodachi Kuno, Tatewaki's just as mental sister, as she came bouncing over the rooftops. The sight of her rival Akane Tendo encircled in the hated pig-tailed girl's arms, had her screeching to a halt, ready to defend her 'dear' brother.

"Ohohohoho! What is this? Being unfaithful to my darling Ranma, now are we?" Kodachi laughed gleefully.

Ranma could feel the tightening in Akane's body at the sound of the cackling laughter, and he groaned into her neck as he mentally listed up all the swearwords he could think of. He loosened his hold on Akane, and she stepped away from him and faced Kodachi.

"Kodachi… How are you? Feeling well..?" Akane politely asked, looking coolly at her.

"Yes, I'm feeling marvellous! I'm going to visit my Ranma now, and let him take me on a spectacular date! And then he'll probably propose to me!" Kodachi twirled her ever-present ribbon, and laughed again as black rose-petals drifted down around them.

"No, you're not..!" Ranma objected. Looking to Akane, and remembering their plan, he squared his slim shoulders. "'Cause I happen to know that Ranma already has other plans..!"

"And what would be so important as to cause him to cancel our date?" Kodachi's eyes glinted dangerously.

"Not that it's any of your business, but he's promised me to let me cook him dinner tonight." Akane boldly stated. "And if he likes what I'm making, he's promised to take me on a date. On a real date."

"WHAT?" Kodachi shrieked. Ranma stood ready to step in as Kodachi tried to slice Akane with her ribbon, but knew he had to let Akane try to defend herself first. He winched as Akane caught the ribbon, easily holding it, and started a staring contest with Kodachi. There was silence for almost a minute, until Kodachi relaxed again, making Ranma tense even more.

"Fine. I challenge you, Akane Tendo, for the right to the 'real' date with my darling Ranma!"

"Oh, but it isn't that simple, Kodachi. Ranma's expecting me to cook for him, not to fight for him this time…" Akane glared at Kodachi, still holding onto the ribbon despite the small droplets of blood escaping her fisted hand.

"On the contrary, Akane Tendo, it will be very simple indeed. I'll just cook better than you. A cooking contest… Fighting against you like this will be the easiest match yet…"

"Okay… I accept your challenge! I'll arrange for the contest to take place at the Dojo the day after tomorrow, at dinner time. The Dojo will supply with all we need, and to avoid cheating of any kind I'll ask Ranma's mother to supervise the contest, with Ranma as the final judge… And he'll be stating the rules before we begin. Does it sound agreeable for you?" Akane stared fiercely at Kodachi, releasing her hold on the ribbon and daring her to chicken out.

"It will be my pleasure to humiliate you yet again in front of my darling Ranma…" Kodachi smiled royally, and with a flick of her wrist she disappeared in a purple cloud of gas.

Ranma was already moving away from the gas bomb with Akane in his arms, only putting her down when he felt they were at a safe distance from the stinging cloud of toxins. Grabbing Akane's wounded hand, he worriedly inspected the sharp cuts in the palm of her hand and on her fingers, and he temporarily bandaged her hand with a strip of cloth he tore from his under-shirt.

"Hey, you shouldn't ruin your clothes like that..!" Akane protested.

"Shush. You don't know what that psycho might have soaked her ribbon in… There could be some of her poisons on it, so we should get you home and properly treat and bandage your cuts before they get infected or anything..." Ranma looked at the hand he held, and realised that even though his own hands now were slightly smaller than hers, her hands were still less scarred and much smoother than his own battle-worn ones.

"Still, we got what we wanted, didn't we? One down, two to go… With some help from Nabiki, we'll have two more contestants by the evening." Akane smiled brightly.

Ranma just grunted, and pulled Akane along back to the Dojo.

They were both in the kitchen, with Ranma finishing up putting on clean bandages on Akane's hand, when Shampoo burst through the wall next to them with a steaming cup of food in one hand.

"Nihao, Airen! Shampoo bring husband too-too nice dinner!" Shampoo chirped, easily pushing back Akane, and sliding as close to Ranma as she could get. Ranma frantically tried to keep at least a layer of air between them, something that proved to be less than easy, even with his added speed as he was still in his girl form.

"Ugh, Shampoo..! I need to breathe!" he wheezed out, tugging at the arm that had him in a tight head-lock.

"Yeah, Shampoo, let Ranma go… He needs to be well and healthy to judge in the contest between me and Kodachi the day after tomorrow…" Akane was scowling up at Shampoo from the floor, where Shampoo had pushed her to.

Ranma was so suddenly released that he almost fell over, and coughed a few times before he got his control back. He nervously eyed the voluptuous Amazon, and felt his nerves twinge almost painfully as he recognised several cat-like features in both her stance and in her purring voice.

"Oooh… Kitchen-destroyer need Airen to save her in fight with Crazy-girl..?"

"No, I'm not fighting her like that… We're having a cooking contest. With Ranma as the prize…" Akane was back on her feet, and focused on brushing off any invisible dust that might be on her white and blue dress.

"Hah! Shampoo not let anyone else have Airen! Shampoo easily win!" Shampoo clapped her hands excitedly, squealing as she jumped slightly up and down.

"If you intend to enter the contest, then you'll have to play by the rules too…"

"No problem! Shampoo still win, and bring fine husband back to China!"

"Okay… Dinner time, the day after tomorrow, here at the Dojo… All the supplies we need will be here, and I'll ask Nodoka to supervise to make sure nobody cheats… And Ranma will be the judge… Other rules will be stated before the contest begins… Do you still wish to participate?"

Ranma stood as still as he could to the side of the two girls, feeling cold dread prick him in the back of his neck. #I know I'm the one who has the say in who's going to be the winner… But I can't help but worry that either Shampoo or Kodachi – or the both of them – will have a couple of tricks up their sleeves… Better make sure they come sleeveless…# He almost grinned at his own private joke, but was jolted back to attention by the disturbing image of Shampoo and Akane shaking hands. He braced himself just in time for the infamous Amazon hug/crush, and thanked all the gods he knew of when the purple-haired girl bounced happily back out of the house.

**#8#8#**

Ranma was watching Akane cook again that night, feeling worried as the thick, black smoke coming from her cooking made his eyes sting.

Akane had asked Nabiki to somehow get Ukyo to participate in the contest too, but when Nabiki returned after successfully carrying out her mission earlier that evening, they hadn't expected her to be pulling along a little black piglet in a leash.

Akane's reaction had been instant.

"RYOGA! You son of a-!"

Nabiki had barely raised an eyebrow, and the grin that spread over her face had given Ranma the creeps. The squeal that came from Ryoga's pig-form left no doubt that he too found it seriously terrifying.

"Now, now, sis… Take it easy… Revenge will come tomorrow… I know just the cure for our disillusioned little piglet here…" Nabiki's voice sounded pleasant enough, but Ranma hadn't lived with the Tendo's all these years without learning a thing or two about the slight colour-shifts in the Tendo sisters' eyes. It was the only thing that ever gave away what they really thought, although it was rare that he could decipher the meanings when it came to Nabiki. Kasumi was more open, often letting him see her true emotions – probably in an attempt to teach Ranma how to read the youngest sister. He was learning more about how to read Akane every day, but he had realised lately that he'd always known how to see it… He just seldom used his knowledge, in fear of what he would discover. And the colour-shift in Nabiki's eyes spoke volumes of how much she would enjoy being the one to help her little sister get revenge. Ranma was thankful that that particular look wasn't meant for him, and he hoped that it never would be.

"Uhm… 'Kane? Do you want any help with that?" Ranma asked in a nervous voice, as he wondered if it was Ryoga's earlier reappearance that caused Akane to act so stressed out. He fidgeted in his seat, the smoke making his head pound slightly.

"No! I can do this! I really can!"

Akane was standing with her back towards him, her simple, blue pyjamas spotted with food-stains. Her back was stiff, and even though the radio played softly in the background, she hadn't once tapped her foot to the rhythm.

#What's gotten into her? She's totally blocked herself off from the rest of the world, ever since the first challenge was accepted, and it's just gotten worse by the hour. If she cooks like this in the contest, I won't be conscious enough to make the right decision… Kodachi and Shampoo won't need to come up with any tricks at all…#

The smoke had somehow turned green, and it was snaking low on the floor, and out of the kitchen. Ranma worried that Akane might eventually hurt herself, just as she yelped. Within a second he was by her side and checking her for any damages. She was clutching her bandaged hand close to her chest, and he could spot a small bloodstain on it.

"You really should take it a bit easier… You just reopened one of your wounds didn't you..? You should just let it rest and heal until the match." Ranma scolded her lightly, but instantly shut up as he lifted his eyes to meet her gaze, and saw the tears pooling in her glistening eyes. Before he could do or say anything, a soft voice made the both of them freeze.

"Oh my…"

Turning slowly, Akane and Ranma faced the kitchen door. A wide-eyed Kasumi was holding a hand in front of her slightly gaping mouth, staring at her now greased down kitchen – caused by the thick, green smoke. Behind her Nabiki popped out a ruffled head, wrinkling her nose, and Soun, Genma and even Nodoka was standing behind the two girls with not as much shock on their faces as poorly hidden disgust at the sight and smell of the room.

"Really, Akane… A young lady as yourself should not disturb the sleep of others in the middle of the night… I'm sure Ranma would more than happily help you practise your cooking at a more reasonable hour of the day…" came Nodoka's calm voice.

Ranma could hear the gulp from Akane as she shifted slightly away from him, and he couldn't help but feel relieved that her secret was still safe, since everyone would think it perfectly normal that another one of Akane's cooking attempts ended up as a disaster. #I like our quiet nights together… And if they find out the truth, the midnight meetings might end…#

"I'm sorry, auntie Nodoka, I did not mean to disturb your sleep. I will just clean up this mess, and try not to keep you up any more…" Akane's voice was calm and sincere.

"I'll help her, mom… After all, I probably should have stopped her sooner…"

Nodoka beamed Ranma an approving smile, and Ranma ignored the glare Akane sent him.

"Jeez, Akane… I thought that you of all people wanted to be awake to fully enjoy the session I've planned for Ryoga tomorrow… I've even sold tickets!" Nabiki yawned.

"Sorry sis… I just had a bit on my mind… Kasumi, I promise, I'll get your kitchen back in shape…" Akane shuffled her feet, the exhaustion and sadness clearly showing in her defeated posture.

"It's okay, Akane… You need sleep too… Just clean up the worst, and I'll do the rest tomorrow. I was planning on cleaning it properly the other day anyway. Now I have a proper excuse…" Kasumi smiled gently, although her eyes discretely scanned the room to assess what damage had been done.

Ranma watched the group as they left, noticing the firm grip his mother had on his father's arm, and didn't turn back to Akane until he judged Soun's wailing cries to be far enough away.

"Phew… That was close!" He whispered to Akane.

"Yeah… I guess it was lucky after all that I wasn't in the mood for cooking…" Her voice had a sad undertone, and Ranma instantly got worried.

"What about the match then… Do you think it'll be all right?"

"Yeah… I think I know what to do…" Akane smiled a bit broader, and threw out the burned lump that still gave off a nauseating smell.

Ranma also smiled, and decided to be extra nice to her. Using his famous speed, he had soap and water ready, and washed off the roof and walls within 10 minutes – even though he needed to change water several times over. Akane turned off the radio before she did the dishes, and as Ranma finished the floors, he realised that it had grown very silent in the kitchen. Looking over at Akane, he saw that she'd fallen asleep, resting her forehead against the upper cupboards over the sink. She had managed to finish the dishes, so Ranma just drained the soap water, and picked her up bridal style. Hefting a finger through the handle of Akane's bag of groceries – which thankfully no one seemed to have noticed earlier – he trotted silently up to her bedroom. Being quick, in case someone was still up to see them, he laid Akane on her bed, and shoved the bag into her closet.

As he sneaked back to his own room, he was glad that he'd resisted the urge to tuck Akane inn and kiss her, as he heard a faint rustle coming from Nabiki's room. #She was probably standing ready with her camera… And that's not the way I want people to find out about -… Wait a moment… Find out about what? There's nothing going on between me and the Tomboy, is there? Argh! I wish both halves of my brain could agree on something for once!#

Looking over at his sleeping parents as he tip-toed over to his futon, he caught his mother's soft gaze as she was watching his movements, and the ghost of a knowing smile passed over her lips. He returned the smile hesitantly, and quickly slid under his blanket, hoping that some sleep would help him relax again.

#Poor Ryoga…# He thought as he felt sleep claim him.

**So, in the next chapter there will be REVENGE!**

**After that, there'll be the contest, and that'll be the end of my story too...**

**Reviews are welcome...! I love compliments, but if you feel like bashing me you're welcome to do that too... Just don't expect me to fall down and cry, or agree with you... #grin#**


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